Equal In Life
by angelbutterfly
Summary: It’s a few months after the war when Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, and Kira unexpectedly come across a few of their old friends. In order to “catch up”, they make a slight change of plans, which causes them to end up stranded... AxC, KxL, DxM, YxOC
1. Unintended Detour

Here goes my first attempt at a Gundam Seed fic...

Summary: It's a few months after the war when Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, and Kira unexpectedly come across a few of their old friends. In order to "catch up", they make a slight change of plans, which causes them to end up stranded. While being "stuck", they contemplate about how peace will truly affect people. Athrun and Cagalli worry about where their relationship will go, Kira still tries to deal with his guilt, Miriallia attempts to move on, and Yzak tries to clear his confused mind. And not to mention, the peace might not last too long...

Basically a lot of pairings with an interesting storyline to set things all up. Athrun/Cagalli (duh), Kira/Lacus, some subtle Milly/Dearka, and Yzak/OC

Hope you enjoy it! =)

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CH. 1: Unintended Detour 

"Hurry up boys!" Cagalli shouted to them. Many steps away from the girls, Athrun and Kira followed along, trying to keep their balance while carrying all the luggage.

"Why do girls always bring so much?" Kira wondered.

"I have no idea." Athrun answered while slanting to one side to keep from falling face down. "I expected as much from Lacus, but with Cagalli, well, I expected her to carry...less."

"I guess we just have to deal with it." Both of them laughed heartedly.

"Now what are you two so happy about?" Cagalli asked, giving them a suspicious look.

"Nothing." They both shook their heads.

"Well then, I'll just have to figure out for myself." Cagalli gave her trademark smirk.

"Thank you for carrying my things Kira." Lacus suddenly said, slightly blushing. Kira blushed back.

"They really need to start admitting their feelings for each other." Cagalli whispered into Athrun's ear as he leaned towards her. Unfortunately, due to the weight of the luggage, Athrun almost tripped over, causing Cagalli to wrap her arms around him instinctively. They stayed in that position, looking into each other's eyes, until..."

"I think that's a bit too much public display of affection there."

Instantly they backed away, both faces crimson. Athrun turned around to face the speaker. "Dearka!" And not too far behind him stood another gundam pilot. "Yzak!" Dearka had a smirk on, while Yzak looked, well...Yzak. "What are you two doing here?"

"I would like to ask the same to you." Dearka replied. "Don't you people have to be in a meeting somewhere?" Then eyeing Cagalli, he smirked, "Especially your girlfriend over there."

"Well, that is," Athrun explained, after getting over the initial embarrassment, "people were getting agitated because not much was getting done, so the council decided to resume the meetings after the year ends." He breathed a sigh of relief. "And with the way things are turning out, a little Christmas break would do everyone good."

"Yea, I doubt being stuck with those old, pompous senators would be good for anyone's health." Dearka commented, laughing. "Besides, that's basically what's happening in ZAFT too. We don't have much to do until all the negotiations are finished, so they let us off for awhile."

"Oh, so what are you two going to do now?" Lacus suddenly asked, curious.

"We were trying to catch a shuttle to anywhere. Just needed a change of setting. Besides," Dearka kept his voice low, so Yzak wouldn't overhear. "Yzak needs to assimilate more, and this is the perfect opportunity to do so." The group then took a quick peek at Yzak, and could tell right away that he felt out of place.

"He's still not very accepting about the whole Coordinator and Natural situation, is he?" Kira asked.

"I wouldn't exactly say that." Dearka replied, scratching his head. "He's just confused, that's all. Still needs to think it over."

"Well, that's good..." Athrun stopped when he realized Dearka's mind had wandered to something else. Or rather, to someone.

"Is...is that who I think it is?" He stammered, while looking past Cagalli's shoulder. The group turned around, and found a very hassled looking girl.

"Miriallia!" Kira waved. Seeing Kira, she walked towards him with a smile. But after seeing everyone else, she looked a bit uneasy. She was no longer angry with Athrun for Tolle's death, but she still felt awkward around him. And not to mention Dearka...

"So, uh...how's everyone doing?" She managed to put on a nervous smile.

"We're doing fine." Kira reassured her. "I heard that you were interested in photography now days. How is that going?"

"I'm not sure about that quite yet." She replied, slightly fidgeting. "Right now I'm just trying to get back to earth. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any seats available. I should have known better than to not plan ahead during this time of the year."

Cagalli suddenly had a brilliant idea. "I know! Why don't we all go to earth together? Us four were headed there already, Dearka and Yzak wanted to go somewhere, and you needed to figure out a way to go back."

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Miriallia asked. "I don't want to cause trouble."

"It's fine." Kira answered, "Although it might be a bit uncomfortable because we were going on a small shuttle since it was initially only the four of us."

"Maybe we could trade shuttles." Lacus suggested.

"Great idea! Let's ask." With that, Cagalli dragged Lacus all the way to the nearest desk while the rest of them sweat-dropped.

"Excuse me, but are there any spare shuttles we could trade with?" Cagalli asked impatiently.

"Well, there is one, but miss..."

"Which one is it?" She asked excitedly.

"It's number 253, but miss..."

"Okay, we'll be taking that." She broke him off abruptly and continued to drag the others to the shuttle's general vicinity. "Oh, and we'll be going to Orb!" She shouted from far away. The man just shook his head. They've find out soon enough.

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"This shuttle seems nicer than the other one." Lacus remarked.

"And definitely bigger." Cagalli added, looking around.

"Looks like someone's coming in." Kira mentioned towards the door. All eyes turned towards it, as a blond, jade-eyed girl walked through it. Seeing them, she looked quite confused.

"Oh, am I in the wrong shuttle?" She asked sweetly.

"Well, actually..." Athrun started to answer when the man from the desk rushed in.

"I'm so sorry miss." He lowered his head apologetically. "I tried to tell them, but they insisted that they needed to trade shuttles."

"It's alright." She smiled. "The other shuttle will probably take me to earth faster." Her eyes lit up in amusement. "Besides, I'm surprised that you didn't recognize them."

"Recognize them?" The man asked quizzically.

"Thank you for letting us trade in such a short notice." Lacus interrupted.

"No problem." Then with a small wave, she walked out, followed by the man, who still murmured apologies.

"That was nice of her." Cagalli remarked.

"Yea, but I wonder who she was."

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"We are nearing the earth's atmosphere." The pilot announced.

"Cagalli, wake up." Athrun insisted, while gently shaking her.

"Huh? What happened?" She looked at him with sleepy eyes.

"We're almost there."

"Already?" Still drowsy, she leaned against Athrun's shoulder.

"Ugh! Like I said, tone it down a bit." Dearka teased.

"What did you say?" Cagalli flared up, now completely awake.

"You guys..." Athrun sweat-dropped.

But their little squabble was interrupted as the group slammed headfirst onto the seats in front of them.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Cagalli yelled at the pilot.

Instead of an apology, all that came from the front was a panicked cry. "What's going on?" The group headed towards the front of the plane.

"The plane...it's out of control!" The pilot yelled. "It malfunctioned somehow. We need to get out of here!"

Not even bothering to think twice, the group headed towards the escape pods. "They're not functioning!" Miriallia yelled, her face turning white.

"We need to land somehow." Athrun reasoned.

"I can't...I just can't." The pilot stammered.

"Well, we need to do something!" Cagalli screamed, frustrated.

Athrun looked at Kira. Kira looked back. Then they both nodded. "It's different from piloting a gundam, but we have to try." They both ran into the control room, getting ready hit the atmosphere.

Three, two, one...everything turned black.

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Well, there's my first chapter. How was it? Please tell me! =)


	2. Found

Thank you everyone for the reviews! You all encouraged me to continue! =)

Oh, and note, unless stated otherwise (like the first section below) everything is in Normal POV

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CH.2: Found

(Miriallia POV)

"Hey, wake up..." Slowly, I opened my eyes, and saw...Dearka? "What's going on?" I managed to ask, still a bit nauseous.

His annoying smirk showed itself again. "Seems like Zala and Yamato managed to crash land the shuttle somehow."

"Oh." I looked around to see how the others where doing. They weren't there. "Where's everyone else?" Panic suddenly ceased me. "Nothing happened to them, right?"

Dearka dismissed the notion with his hand. "No, everyone's fine, if not shaken up a bit. Although that pilot jumped off the shuttle at the last minute. What a crazy guy." Wordlessly, I nodded. At least no one else was hurt. "They're all in the control room right now, trying to send a distress signal." As if on cue, the rest of the group walked in.

"The radio's dead." Athrun informed us. "We're just going to have to wait until someone spots us."

"That's going to take forever!" Cagalli remarked. "Why don't we go outside and try to find help ourselves?"

Yzak snorted from the other side of the room. "Not in this weather."

When he said that, I suddenly realized that it was really, really cold. Sensing me shiver, Dearka took off his jacket, and handed it to me. "Here..." Was that concern I saw in his eyes? Whatever it was, it soon replaced itself with his infamous smirk. "After all, Coordinators can withstand extreme temperatures more than Naturals." Any other time I would have given him a death glare. But seeing the situation, I decided not to argue.

Trying to ignore Dearka, I looked around the room once again, to see Cagalli and Athrun sitting together in a corner, Yzak wordlessly looking out at a window, and Lacus tending to a small bruise on Kira's head. My gaze shifted back to Athrun and Cagalli. The latter snuggled closer to Athrun, as he played with the tip of her golden hair. They looked perfect together, just like Tolle and I once did...

"Does anyone know where we are?" Lacus asked, breaking me from my thoughts. Although she spoke barely above a whisper, I heard her loud and clear.

"No idea." Athrun answered back. "Although, the weather tells us that we're nowhere close to Orb." She merely nodded, and focused her attention on Kira again, who just smiled gratefully back at her.

None of them seemed to be too worried. But then again, why should they be? They had someone to support them, and peace was underway. It would be so simple to fade away...Shaking my head at these morbid thoughts, I followed Yzak's example—stared mindlessly outside, waiting.

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"Sir! One of our shuttles just crashed into sector 34."

"Crashed? One of our own?" The officer stood up, puzzled. He walked towards the informant, and looked at his screen. "Hm...yes indeed. But I don't remember anyone coming here today, especially in this weather...with the exception of her, of course, but she's already here."

"Excuse me, but is there a problem?" Upon hearing that voice, every personnel within the room stood up and saluted the figure.

"There seems to be a crashed shuttle," the officer began, leading her towards the screen, "and surprisingly it's one of our make."

"Well then, we should go and see." She said without a slightest hint of hesitation. "I'm sure that anyone in there won't be doing too well."

"We'll take care of it right away."

"...And I'll be going as well." At those words, everyone stopped what they were doing, and proceeded to stare at her.

"But..." the officer pleaded, "your safety..."

"I'll be fine." She reassured him, while fastening an extra cloak. "Besides, that could have been me out there."

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"Hey, I see some movement over there!" Cagalli pointed. Sure enough, many figures approached the shuttle, and soon they came inside. "Thank you...thank you..." Cagalli stammered as their rescuers handed them blankets. "I don't think we could have lasted very much longer." Her words were acknowledges with a couple nods, as they continued to look around the shuttle. Suddenly, one of them motioned for the group to follow. Obeying, the group followed the figure outside, almost knocked off by the strong breeze that immediately followed.

"Be careful." The figure warned. "Just a few more steps." Sure enough, in a few moments, everyone found themselves in a transporter, safe. "You were lucky that you rode in one of our shuttles. Otherwise no one would have found you in this snowstorm."

"How _did _you find us?" Cagalli asked.

"Every shuttle we make, we put a tracking system on." The figure replied. "It works so that as long as the control room isn't completely destroyed, we could track the shuttle anywhere, anytime."

Soon, the transporter stopped in front of a palace-like structure, and the figure ushered them inside. "It's pretty nice in here." Cagalli remarked. The group passed by a couple rooms before stopping. Meanwhile, they tried to see the face of the figure, but unfortunately, the hood hid it from view.

"Just wait here for awhile." With that, the figure walked out of the corridor.

Sure enough, in a matter of seconds, a benign-looking, elderly lady came forth. "My dears! You all must be exhausted and hungry. Now don't just stand there! Hurry and get inside your rooms." Doing as told, each person headed towards an empty room. "Now, just stay and relax, and I'll get you at seven o'clock for dinner."

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_(Lacus POV)_

Carefully, I stuck a foot into the warm water. Seeing that the temperature was just right, I slowly sank into the tub. Perfect. A bath always helped me to relax. Now all I needed was a certain dark-haired gundam pilot...shaking my head, I mentally slapped myself. Cagalli's really starting to rub off on me. Not that she was perverse. It's just that I got a lot bolder than I used to be. Then again, boldness had its advantages. Cagalli seemed very happy with Athrun, and he with her. And in all honesty, I couldn't be happier for them. If only I could be that happy...

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"Thank you for the hospitality, um..." Cagalli stammered.

"Nora. Just call me Nora." The lady replied.

"Um...all right." Cagalli replied, feeling a bit awkward about calling an elderly lady by her first name. Nora led them through many corridors, until they came across huge double doors.

"Oh, and you shouldn't be thanking me," she corrected as she opened the doors, "you should be thanking her."

A girl with silver, waist-length wavy hair, and cobalt blue eyes looked back at them. She had a pale blue dress on, and she smiled as she motioned for them to sit down. "Welcome to Icedale."

"Oh, is this what this place called?" Cagalli asked. Feeling that she had been a bit too blunt, she continued, "I'm sorry, it's just that I've never heard of it before."

"It's alright." The girl dismissed the comment. "We prefer to stay away from any form of attention anyways."

"I take it that this country is neutral." Yzak suddenly spoke, surprising everybody.

"Yes, for two-hundred years in fact." She replied. "We haven't been involved in any wars since then." Yzak knew everyone stared at him now. He didn't intend to talk at first, but once he heard her voice, he knew he had to figure it out. It was obvious to everyone by now that she had been the hooded figure that led them to this place, but he felt as if he had met her before that.

The double doors opened once again, as people brought in many plates full of food. All conversation momentarily forgotten, the group instantly started piling their plates up. "Oh, excuse us." Athrun blushed. "We forgot to introduce ourselves."

The girl laughed cheerfully. "It's all right. I'm sure you were very hungry."

"Well then, my name is Athrun Zala."

"Kira Yamato."

"Lacus Clyne."

"Dearka."

"Miriallia Haww."

"Yzak."

"Cagalli. And don't you forget it."

"I won't." The girl laughed. "Well then, I guess it's time for us to introduce ourselves then. I'm sure you already know Nora," she said, motioning towards her, "and I'm Arabella Shante."

"_Princess_ Arabella Shante." Nora corrected as she poured herself more water.

"You just had to ruin it for me, didn't you?" Arabella chided with mock anger.

"Well, were you going to hide it from them?" Nora replied, with a glint in her eyes.

"I suppose not." With that, she smiled once again. Soon, dinner ended, with everyone more than content. "I really want to talk more, but I'm sure all of you are very tired right now, so why don't we resume tomorrow morning."

"Thank you for the dinner!" They all said in unison.

"Well then, good night." She waved at them as they started to walk out of the door. "Oh, and one more thing. You're free to go about as you like, as long as you don't go near the first floor of the east wing, or any of the underground floors."

"Oh, all right then. See you in the morning." With that, they walked back to their rooms.

"First the shuttle crash, and now this." Dearka commented. "Life sure got interesting."

"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Kira said, suppressing a yawn. "Good night everyone."

"Night."

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Arabella stepped up to her dressing table. She reached behind the mirror and pressed a button. In an instant, the mirror turned into a computer screen, and a keyboard appeared from under it. She began typing on it, when she heard a knock coming from her door. "Who is it?"

"Nora."

"Come in." Nora came in quickly, and shut the door behind her. "So, did we find out about the plane?"

"It was sabotaged."

Arabella gave out a sigh. "I thought so, right when I heard that a plane crashed." She typed a few more characters into the computer. "It's just too bad that our guests got involved. Hopefully they won't be affected more."

"If this gets out of control, it might be better for them to be involved."

Arabella sighed again. "That's why we're trying to take care of this before it gets to that stage."

"But with the moves the other side is making, this just may be too much for us to handle alone."

"We'll see..." The room stayed silent for a few more seconds until she started typing again. "Oh, and could you have the information on our guests transferred to my room computer right now? I want to verify it again just to make sure."

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There's the end of the chapter!

Was Lacus in character by the way?

And did this chapter meet the standards as the first chapter?

Please tell me your thoughts! =)

(Oh, and I promise, the next chapter is going to be quite interesting, although a bit shorter)


	3. A Glimpse of Secrets

I loved the reviews! =)

Okay, now to reply to some...

_Lomiothiel-_ Hee...I'm sorry you got confused...but technically Kira has dark hair too. (well, at least I thought dark brown hair was considered dark) But Athrun _does_ have darker hair =). Oh, and the whole Kira and Lacus thing, well, people could say that they're together, but Kira isn't still quite over Fllay at this point (idiot...lol). So that explains why Lacus isn't quite happy.

_Heaven's Reaper- _Hm...I never really thought about it that way...lol

_Dreamer- _You were partially right about the last name thing. Cagalli didn't say hers because she didn't want to quite reveal herself (too bad Arabella already knew them all), Yzak didn't say his because he was suspicious, and Dearka...well let's just say that I accidentally overlooked his when I was typing up all the names...lol. Anyways, thanks for reading and catching that.

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**Chapter 3: A Glimpse of Secrets**

Cagalli Yula Attha awoke with only one objective in her mind: water. Groaning, she lifted herself off the bed. Next, she walked towards the light switch, but then decided against it. Most likely the corridor would be dark, so she might as well get used to it. Adjusting her eyes to the darkness, she glanced around the room for the clock, which fortunately was digital, so she saw clearly as it declared 2:30 A.M. Yawning, she opened the door. Unfortunately, nothing looked the same. Not wanting to get lost in this huge place all alone, she thought up a perfect solution...get Athrun.

After approaching what she assumed was Athrun's room, she pounded on the door, until a very startled Kira answered it. Still sleepy-eyed, he looked at Cagalli confusedly. "Huh? Cagalli, what are you doing awake so late?"

"Oh, sorry to wake you Kira." She apologized. "I was just looking for Athrun. Do you know which room he's in?"

"No, sorry." Kira apologized, scratching his head. "I went into my room before he went into his, so I don't know. He's probably in one of those three rooms though." He added, pointing that direction.

"Well then, we'll just have to find out, won't we?" Cagalli smiled mischievously. Before Kira could stop her, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "ATHRUN ZALA! YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE THIS SECOND!"

Sure enough, someone came out of his room, but it wasn't Athrun. "ZALA! YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW AND TEND TO YOUR GIRLFRIENDS NEEDS SO THAT THE REST OF US COULD GET SOME DECENT SLEEP!" Dearka shouted, very cranky. By now, all the seven occupants of the corridor were wide-awake, and were standing into front of their respective doorways.

"Cagalli, you didn't have to be so loud..." Athrun remarked, absolutely embarrassed, both because of her behavior and Dearka's comment.

"Well Cagalli, you really outdid yourself this time." Kira commented, smiling.

"What's that suppose to mean?" She gave Kira an evil glare, which he responded to by slowly backing away. "Ugh, never mind." Grabbing Athrun's arm, she proceeded to drag him with her, completely unfazed by his bewilderment. "The rest of you can go back to sleep. I just wanted Athrun to come and help me find some water."

"We'll just come with you." Kira answered.

"Yea, besides, I could hardly fall back asleep after you woke me up." Dearka commented.

"Suit yourselves."

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"Cagalli, are you sure you know where you're going?" Cagalli stayed in the lead while the others meekly followed behind her.

"Well, when we went to the dining hall from the rooms, we took a right, then a left, and a right again..."

"Um, Cagalli, we took a left first."

"...I knew that!" She defended, although the look on her face told otherwise.

"Are we lost now?" Lacus asked, clutching onto Kira.

"Don't worry! We'll find a way back." Cagalli commented cheerfully, completely ignoring Dearka's murmurs. Soon, the group came across a set of stairs.

"Cagalli, I don't remember going down any stairs..." Athrun suggested.

"Well, it might led to the kitchen, and there might be someone there to tell us how to get back, so let's go!" Realizing that now wasn't the best time to argue with Cagalli, the group followed, although that didn't mean that there weren't occasional murmurs here and there. Eventually, the stairs ended, and the group had to once again decide what to do.

"What floor are we on anyways?"

"The first floor, I think."

"Are you sure?"

"Well, we did come all the way down..."

Seeing that the conversation didn't go anywhere, Cagalli took the initiative once again, and dragged the group towards the right. After walking for a few more minutes, poking inside some rooms (which were fortunately, or unfortunately in their case, empty), they came across a metal door, much similar to those found in airships.

"Should we look in here?" Lacus asked, a bit uncertain.

"Why not? We looked in all the others here."

"Well, this one looks different. Besides, it seems to require some password."

"Actually, the lock seems to be disabled at this point..." Kira stopped himself, realizing what he just got them into.

"Well then, let's check it out!"

"Cagalli, I don't think we should..." Athrun started to protest as Cagalli dragged him inside. But soon he stopped, as he took in what he saw.

"Whoa, what's all this?" Dearka commented, his mouth wide open. Even with the very dim lights, they could tell automatically, the outlines of grand bookcases, and several super computers.

"Is this some sort of data bank?" Kira pondered, as the group went down the railing to find more of such things.

"But I've never seen, or even heard about a place that came even close to this." Athrun answered, completely fascinated. "What do you suppose this is for?"

"Well, maybe if we look through one of these books or files, we could find out." Cagalli concluded as she made a grab for one.

"I don't think we should..." As soon as Cagalli attempted to pull out a file, an extremely noisy and annoying siren sound echoed through out the room. In a matter of seconds, footsteps began to sound behind them.

"Run!" Athrun yelled, as he instinctively grabbed Cagalli and started running deeper into the underground. Not thinking twice, the rest of them followed suit, occasionally stopping to catch their breaths.

"Should we turn right?"

"No, they're closing in."

"Then left!"

"Faster!"

"Now which way?"

"Left again!"

"Straight?"

"Yes, keep on running!"

Just about when they were going to give up, an exit appeared. "Hurry!" Not intending to waste another second, the group ran towards the exit, but stopped right in front of it when they saw a gigantic figure in the background. "What...what in the world?" The group stood there transfixed, staring at the figure. What was it? Some kind of machine? Some kind of artillery? Or maybe even...

"We don't have time for this right now." Athrun spoke up, after breaking out of the trance. "Let's get out of here!"

At that precise moment, the metal door slide open, revealing a figure whose flashing cobalt eyes showed signs of anger as she pointed a gun at them coldly. "You're not going anywhere."

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Got to end it there! =)

So how was this chapter?

Hopefully my rushing didn't make this chapter too bad. (I wanted to post this chapter by the 15th so that I don't have to wait until the 19th.) (this site and its upgrades...)

Looks like they're in trouble now... and was it just me, or did Arabella seem a bit scary there? lol...tell me what you think!


	4. The Deal

So how did everyone like the cliffy from the last chapter? =)

Now, replying to the reviews:

_Lomiothiel- _Yes, everyone went along with Cagalli and Athrun. I guess they couldn't fall asleep again after that incident...lol. Oh, and thanks for reviewing every chapter, I think you're the only one that did so far. I really appreciate it! =)

_Kira and Lacus Forever-_ Confused? I could explain if you told me what you're confused about... =) Oh, and I'm sorry about Lacus not saying much. It's just that I have to try to balance out each character, and in the process I overlook a couple in the beginning or so. But don't worry about it, there will be more of her soon. I mean, every reader wants _his/her_ favorite couple to appear the most, so it's kinda hard to please everyone...(besides, Lacus isn't that talkative...that's Cagalli's job...lol) Oh, and please refer to the author notes at the end of the story, ok? Thanks!

_Miriallia Elthman-_ Yes, there will definitely be more Milly/Dearka moments. But just like I stated in the above response, everyone wants his or her favorite couple to appear the most, so I need to balance things out. So bear with me, ok? =) Oh, and read the author notes at the end of the story. Thanks!

Oh, and thank you to all the other reviewers too! (I just didn't refer to them specifically because they didn't ask specific questions, but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate them)

And...lol...it turns out that I forgot to do the disclaimer for the last three chapters...so I'll just do it now...I don't own Gundam SEED, no matter how much I want to...lol

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**Chapter 4: The Deal**

"It was an accident Arabella, I swear!" Cagalli protested as the guards led the group to who knows where. Athrun tried his best to calm Cagalli down, to no avail. Kira and Lacus both stared at the floor, quietly following. Miriallia had on a pale face, and following her walked Dearka who didn't seem too fazed by the incident. Yzak slightly trailed behind, with a clear scowl on his face. Arabella just led the way without a word.

"We didn't mean any harm, just curious. If we knew we weren't allowed to go in, we wouldn't have..." Cagalli stopped, as she looked around her surroundings. She half expected to find herself in a cold, dark prison cell, but instead found herself in a richly decorated common room with a nice cozy fireplace.

"Sit." The group obeyed silently. Arabella turned around and dismissed the guards. Then she in turn sat down and stared at them. "Didn't know that you weren't allowed? I remember specifically telling you not to go to the first floor of the east wing."

"We didn't know it was the east wing." Athrun started to explain. "We got lost..."

"If you didn't mean to cause trouble, why did you bother to disable such a complicated lock system?" Arabella retorted back.

"Well..."

"The lock was already disabled. Besides, I doubt security systems designed by Naturals would be hard for Coordinators to crack." Yzak answered with a smirk, ignoring all the "you're not helping the situation" looks he received from the rest of the group. Luckily, Arabella looked amused.

"I assure you, this particular system would have been hard to break, even for Coordinators."

"And how would a Natural know that?"

Arabella smiled. "Who said I was a Natural?"

"You're a Coordinator?!" Yzak was at a loss of words, and the rest of the group continued to stare at Arabella. Arabella's smile grew wider. "I never said I was."

"Arabella, we're a little confused." Lacus said, while taking a glance back at Kira who looked equally befuddled. "If you're not a Natural, then you're a Coordinator right? And vice versa..."

"You're forgetting the third option. But that's besides the point." She dismissed the subject. "What's more important is the current situation." Her smile turned into a slight frown. "If none of you disabled the lock, then who did? I'll have to find out."

"Um...excuse the interruption Arabella, but does this mean we're off the hook?" Cagalli asked nervously.

Arabella's eyes narrowed slowly. "Not quite."

"But..."

Arabella let out a sigh. "Even if the whole situation was an accident, I can't just let it slide. I'm sure you saw things that you weren't suppose to. So..."

The group feared the worst. "...you'll have to stay here with me until this whole thing's solved."

"Huh?" Cagalli blinked. "That's it?"

"And promise not to say anything about anything you saw." Arabella continued, easing up a little. "Why, would you prefer to stay in one of the prison cells? I could certainly arrange that..."

"No, no. This is fine." Cagalli frantically shook her arms as she sweat-dropped.

"Thank you for letting us go easily." Lacus said gratefully. "I'm sure we caused more trouble than necessary."

Arabella merely shrugged. "Well, I didn't think any of it was intentional. Besides," she added as an afterthought. "it's been a while since I had a chance to talk with...well, people my age..." For a moment, her eyes looked sorrowful, but the emotion disappeared as soon as she stood up. "So, anything else before you go back your rooms?"

"Actually..." Cagalli replied with a slight grin.

* * *

"I can't believe your girlfriend, Zala." Yzak and Dearka remarked in unison. The rest of the group sweat-dropped as they watched Cagalli happily walking along with a huge water jug. 

"What? I'm thirsty." Cagalli pouted while glaring at the two ZAFT pilots. "I'm not the only one impulsive by the way."

"She does have a point." Miriallia commented, glaring at Dearka. "If I remember correctly, you're the one that woke everyone else up."

Dearka shrugged. "Well, we could all go back to sleep now. And Miriallia," he suddenly put on an evil grin. "If you have a hard time falling asleep again, I'll just..."

"Pervert!" Miriallia yelled furiously as she stalked into her room. Dearka didn't say anything else, but his grin grew wider as he went into his own room.

"Well, I got my water and I'm happy, so I'm going to go to sleep now." Cagalli announced as she walked in and closed the door. She was followed by Athrun, who wished everyone good night before he shut the door to his room. Yzak gave an "I'm surrounded by idiots" look before he went off. Soon, it was just Lacus and Kira who still stood in the corridor.

"Looks like Cagalli got us into another mess." Kira smirked.

"But then she wouldn't be Cagalli otherwise." Lacus smirked back. But then her face turned into one of worry. "Are you alright Kira? You were injured already, and now you're deprived of sleep..."

"Don't worry about it." Kira assured her. "You should be more worried about yourself."

"But..." Lacus protested as Kira led her to her room.

"Good night."

* * *

"So how's everyone this morning?" Arabella asked cheerfully, as she welcomed them into the dining room for breakfast. "Oh, and sorry for being a bit cranky before. I just wasn't in a good mood after being woken up at 3 AM in the morning finding out that someone broke into the restricted area."

"It's fine." Kira answered, piling pancakes onto his plate while glancing quickly at Cagalli, Yzak, and Dearka. "We're pretty used to it."

"And what do you mean by that?" Cagalli gave a death glare to Kira while reaching out for the syrup.

The rest of breakfast went on silently, with the exception of utensils clashing and such, until Arabella broke the silence. "Would you guys like to go out into the city?"

"Sure, that would be great!" Cagalli exclaimed. "But I thought we weren't allowed to. And what about the snowstorm?"

"You'll be safe within the city boundaries." She answered. Then she hesitantly added, "Well, if you'll give me your word that you won't try to escape, I see no reason why not."

"Of course." They all replied in unison.

"So...where are we going to go?"

* * *

All right, ending it there! =)

Okay, this is chapter was the initial setup for...(drum rolls):

The next four chapters will be dedicated to our four couples, Athrun/Cagalli, Kira/Lacus, Dearka/Milly, and Yzak/Arabella. (As in each couple will get a whole chapter to themselves) Initially, I had the chapters set up chronologically in my own way, but then I thought, "hey, why don't I let the readers decide?" So basically, the couple with the most requests from the readers will most likely appear first. Oh, and personally I prefer to put the Yzak/Arabella chapter last (because of the way I set it up initially) but I could change it a little, so don't worry about it.

So tell me which pairing you think should be up first, and oh, what you thought about this chapter. That would be great. Thanks! =)


	5. Shopping Craziness

Whoa...I didn't think I would get so many responses...thank you!

And according to the responses, the first chapter will go to....

Dearka and Miriallia!

Yea...originally I didn't intend for them to go first, so I have to make some modifications to the story...hopefully that won't mess up the chapter...

Oh, and the line up will be as follows: Athrun/Cagalli, Yzak/Arabella, Kira/Lacus

Now, the reviews:

_SeraphimEclipse- _Yea, I know what you mean...the chapters should be a bit longer. But it's hard to write _good _long chapters because after awhile, the interest dies out. I'll try my best though! Thanks!

_Lena-_Yes, I'll definitely post all four chapters, although it may take awhile...=)

_Lomiothiel- _Umbrella? LOL...that's a first...Oh, and I'm really really sorry that Yzak is in the third 't help it...the other readers wanted it that way... (don't kill me...lol) Okay, maybe that was a pathetic excuse but still...maybe waiting for it would make it better? =) Thanks!

_Heaven's Reaper-_Hm...Arabella's role? Now if I tell you that now, I would be giving up the story =) Oh, and as to where they are, Arabella mentions the name in Ch.2. But I guess that isn't much...

_Soi-_Assuming that you got it right...yes, it is pretty simple isn't it? Maybe I'm making a bit too much of a deal about it but still, it helps with the plot later on.

Oh, and thanks also to _Trisha, Blue Savage, Miriallia Elthman, Lily, kdpcat, yoshinori, _and _Miss Akira_. (Hopefully I didn't miss anyone...)

Oh, and yes, the usual disclaimer applies...just out of curiosity, do I have to repeat this every chapter?

* * *

**Ch.5: Shopping Craziness**

(12:00 P.M.)

"Here we are." Arabella announced as the car came to a stop.

"The weather doesn't seem to be that bad." Cagalli commented as she poked her head out the window.

"Like I said."

"It's too bad Yzak decided to not join us." Lacus remarked as she got out of the car. "The fresh air might have done him some good."

"Yzak's always stubborn like that." Dearka answered. "If he doesn't want to do something, he doesn't. On the other hand, if something catches his attention, he's obsessed."

"That's a very nice way to talk about your friend." Arabella chided jokingly. Dearka merely shrugged.

"So what are we going to do?" Cagalli asked, excited.

"Well, there's the amusement park, movie theaters, shopping malls..." Arabella went on. "But the real question should be what are _you _going to do, not _we_."

"Eh?"

"I have to go back and finish some paper work that's going to take a couple hours." She explained.

"But then wouldn't we get lost?"

"Well..." Arabella reached into one of her pockets and handed each one of them mini communicators. "That's for just in case. Oh, and how about meeting back here around 6:00 P.M. for dinner?" Everyone nodded his or her heads. "Great! I'll see you then." The group waved good-bye as she left.

"So anyone want to do anything particular?" Athrun asked.

"Well, shouldn't we be buying some gifts?" Miriallia suggested.

"Oh, that's right! Christmas is...only three days away!" Cagalli exclaimed. "I completely forgot because of all the crazy things that have been happening."

"Shopping sounds good..." Athrun replied, although the look on his face told otherwise. "But maybe we should do that later, because...you don't want to lug around bags all day."

"Um...that's right...say Lacus, maybe we should head that way." Kira said nervously while leading Lacus far away from the rest of the group before she got it into her head that shopping _was _a good idea. After all, she wouldn't be the one that would end up carrying everything.

"Looks like those two are heading off on their own." Cagalli smirked. But her smirk soon turned into excitement. "Hey Athrun, what's that over there?" The next minute she was four blocks away, dragging a helpless Athrun. Dearka and Miriallia sweat-dropped, watching the two couples heading towards different directions.

* * *

_(Miriallia POV, 1:30 P.M)_

He was still following me. After seeing the rest of the group go their separate ways, I decided to stick to my original plan and go shopping. Actually, it was better this way. Now they won't know what I'm going to buy for them until Christmas morning. Of course, I never expected him to come along. After trying to lose him in the crowd, I gave up and acknowledged him. "Dearka, why are you here?"

"Because I have nowhere else to go." He replied matter-of-fact. "I didn't want to intrude on Zala and his girlfriend, or Yamato and his." Then he put on his infamous smirk. "Besides, don't you want some company?" I rolled my eyes at his response. He had an excuse for everything. But maybe he was right to some point. I would have probably gotten bored by myself. After all, I still had more than four hours to go. Of course, not that I'm going to admit that to him.

"All right, you could come along." Elated, he linked his arms with me.

"So, who are you buying gifts for?"

"Cagalli, Lacus, Arabella, Athrun, Kira, Yzak..." I listed while unlinking my arm from his. People might start thinking that we were together...

"What about me?" I stared at him, giving him back a smirk. About time he tasted his own medicine. "You are going to get me something, aren't you?"

"Depends on how nice you are to me today." I gave him an evil wink.

"Come on, I need to figure out what to get everyone." I laughed, sensing his distress. For once, I had control, not the other way around. This was going to fun.

"So...do you need me to do anything?" He asked nervously.

"Actually..."

Soon, Dearka became a human clothes hanger, due to the amount of clothes I piled onto him. "I...can't...move..." He managed to stammer. "And these...are chocking...me." He added, drawing my attention to four scarves that were twisted around his neck. I had to do everything in my will power to keep from bursting out laughing.

"But I need to see how they look on a person." I added innocently. But then seeing Dearka's face turn red from lack of air, I decided that he endured enough for one day. "All right, all right, you can put it all back. I think I figured out what to get..."

* * *

_(Dearka POV, 3:30 P.M.)_

We finally managed to get out of the store. Not that Miriallia had any trouble finding anything. But the line...now that was a different story. Why does everyone have to shop so last minute? I still have a headache...

"Are you hungry?" She suddenly asked.

"A little bit." Now that she mentioned it, my stomach was growling.

"Well, maybe we could get something light before dinner." She suggested. "We did skip lunch after all."

Inside I was dying. But I replied simply, "That's fine." So we proceeded to the food court, to find another crowd. Not again...

"Why don't you go and save a table while I stay in line?" She suggested, thankfully. Luckily she didn't buy the jackets she had been eyeing earlier (those would have weighed a ton), but I still felt sore, so sitting down was a very good idea. "Anything you particularly want?" She asked.

"No, anything would be fine." I watched as she turned back towards the line. Sitting by a table, I continued to stare at her, and thankfully she didn't notice. She seemed happy today, unlike her usual self. Maybe she's learning to let go...Suddenly, I began to boil inside with anger. What did he have that I don't have?! What makes him so special that she completely disregards me? What makes her choose him over me? Besides, who can resist me? Okay, the last comment, when said to my friends back in the war days, would cause Nicol to look the other way, Athrun to cough, and Yzak to roll his eyes, but besides that...But what made me really angry was that he still haunted her, never letting her go, never letting her be happy...

"Dearka?" I broke out of my thoughts. How long has she been standing there? She smiled slightly as she sat down across from me. "You suddenly got quiet."

"Well, it's not as if I had a choice." I grumbled. Good save.

"So how have you been?" She asked, suddenly changing the subject.

I shrugged. "Just the usual. Nothing much going on with ZAFT. So I just bored myself spending time with Yzak. He really needs a life. Not to mention a girlfriend."

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think you're being a bit hypocritical there?"

"No. Besides, I'm not as up tight as he is." I replied, giving her a wink.

"Whatever you say." She answered sarcastically, rolling her eyes. The food suddenly became very interesting.

"And what about you?" I asked, after couple minutes of silence.

"Just wandering around. Trying to figure out what to do with my life and picking up the pieces." She replied with a sigh. I decided not to press the subject.

"Everyone seems so happy." She suddenly commented. "Of course, it's a good thing that the war ended. But..."

"You lost more than you gained. Is that what you're trying to say?" I answered for her.

"Yes."

We stayed quiet for the rest of the time, staring into open space. Even amongst the depression and chaos, it seemed...nice. Almost like a date. Of course, if anyone asked, both of us would deny it the next second. But then again, maybe that's just the way it is.

* * *

Okay...end of chapter! =)

Hopefully my modifications didn't mess it up to much.

And hopefully the characters weren't OOC.

Oh, and trying to write a long chapter...it didn't work out.

So, how was the chapter?

(Maybe I'm taking things too slow? Oh, and maybe a bit too angsty?)

Oh, and wait for Athrun and Cagalli in the next chapter! Thanks! =)


	6. Comedy and Tragedy

* * *

I'm so happy about all the reviews! =) Thank you! Thank you! 

_Trisha- _Oh, the part about him choking? It's because he had four scarves wrapped around his neck that was cutting off air circulation...lol. And about Dearka hinting...hm...

_Miriallia Elthman- _Yea I know...needs more interaction. Sorry, sorry...but some scenes did get cut off because I had to change it to the first chapter...maybe I should have just waited, but oh well, too late now...anyways, thanks.

_SeraphimEclipse-_I'm glad you liked the angst =). Because there's going to be more of it as the story nears the end (but that doesn't mean it's going to end soon...still have a long way to go). I mean, there's got to be some angst for the story to be realistic, don't you think? (unless of course it's a humor story, but even then...) Well, thanks for reading and reviewing...

_Lomiothiel- _Seriously...Dearka is such a good friend...lol. Oh, and yea, everyone's been telling me that the chapters are a bit short...I seriously apologize to everyone for this...but sometimes I can't help it...sorry...(but I guess that implies that people want to read more, so I take it in a positive way) Oh, and thanks for all the encouragements!

_Miss Akira-_I'm really really flattered by your comment. I honestly didn't think so many people would like my writing when I started this...it's such an encouragement!

And thank you also to:_ Heaven's Reaper, Mizue-chan, and Prayer Reverie_. (hopefully that's everyone)

Oh, and yes, the disclaimer...blah blah...

Before reading on...okay, I noticed that people seem to argue about whether Cagalli is a Coordinator or a Natural. I honestly don't know what to decide, so I'll just leave it at that. But for the purpose of this fic, think this: Cagalli doesn't know she's a Coordinator (that is, if she is), NOBODY knows. Not Athrun, Kira, etc., you get the point. So just think along those lines and the fic will make sense. Okay? All right...now on with it...

* * *

**Chapter 6: Comedy and Tragedy**

(1:00 P.M)

"Cagalli, just where are you dragging me?" Athrun managed to ask as they made a sudden stop.

"Oh, nowhere in particular." Cagalli said with a mischievous smile. Athrun face-faulted. Laughing, Cagalli continued. "I just wanted to leave Dearka and Miriallia alone. They have some issues to work out. Seeing that Kira and Lacus left, I thought it would be the perfect time to leave those two alone."

"Yea...but it wasn't necessary to drag me twelve blocks in a random direction." He murmured.

"What did you say?"

"Um...nothing, nothing." Athrun waved his hands back and forth wildly, sweat-dropping.

"That's what I thought." She remarked smugly.

"So, anything you particularly want to do now?" He asked.

"Not really...hey, isn't that the amusement park Arabella mentioned earlier?" Cagalli suddenly got excited. "Come on!" She skipped along, with an amused Athrun right beside her. Soon, they got inside, and Cagalli looked around frantically, excited. However, she gave Athrun a disapproving look. "Stop being like that!"

"Huh?" Athrun remarked, truly confused.

"You're too tense and moody." She told him straight off. "Come on, loosen up! Let's have some fun." Not sensing a change in Athrun's demeanor, she added, "Please...for me?" with a cute face. Athrun couldn't help but smile.

"All right, I'll try."

"Good." She said, as she became her usual self again. It wasn't everyday that she pulled a stunt like that. But then again, it worked every time when it came to Athrun.

"So what would you like to do first?" Athrun asked kindly. He was always such a gentleman.

"Could we eat first? I'm really hungry." She replied, while her eyes scanned for the nearest food stand.

"Of course." He led her to the nearest table, and motioned for her to sit. "I'll get everything, you just wait here." Before she could protest, he sped off, already half way to the front of the line.

"Sometimes I think he spoils me too much." She murmured to herself. "But that's the way I like him." She added with a smirk, watching Athrun walk back towards her with the food.

"Anything else you want?" He asked, sitting right across from her.

"No, this is fine." With that, she dug into the food, but still keeping her attention on Athrun. Soon, they started to joke around, and Cagalli had to try her best not to choke on her food.

"I remember this one time," Athrun said, as he talked about what he and the other three pilots did in their spare time. "Dearka tried to play a practical joke on us, so he switched our shampoo with honey..."

"What?!" Cagalli burst out laughing. "I can't believe...hold on, let me get some cotton candy first..." She attempted to get up, but because she was laughing so hard, she tripped, and fell straight towards the table, knocking it, the food, and the chairs straight to the ground. Luckily, Athrun grabbed her just in time so that she wouldn't fall face flat on the hard floor, but that couldn't be said of anything else.

"I'm so sorry..." Cagalli apologized to the cleaning crew who came to take care of the mess.

"Hey Cagalli, I think you spilled something on your jacket. I'll go and get some napkins." Athrun offered. Cagalli nodded wordlessly as he left. Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw three girls jeering at her.

"It's obvious that she's a Natural, seeing that she's so clumsy." The red-haired girl remarked haughtily.

"I know, it's so obvious." A brown-headed girl agreed.

"Although I think her boyfriend is a Coordinator." A black-haired girl commented lastly.

"Obviously..." The red-haired girl replied, rolling her eyes. "I mean, how else could he have been so fast?"

"Not to mention, so cute." The brown-haired girl added.

"I don't know why he would waste his time on such a pathetic Natural." The redheaded girl continued.

"Hey, Cagalli I'm back with the..." Athrun stopped, as he saw the frown on Cagalli's face.

"This country is so messed up, letting Naturals run about as they please." The redheaded girl was on a roll, especially with the two other girls nodding their heads in unison. "But then of course, considering just who...or should I say _what_ the ruler of the country is, I'm not so surprised." She finished with that snide remark. The other two wore similar patronizing grins.

"We're so glad you came to visit us." The black-haired girl said to the red-haired girl. "It's been such a long time that we actually got to talk with someone who _truly _understands the situation..."

"Cagalli," Athrun said, as he gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "I think we should go now." Cagalli had half a mind to go and scream at the three girls, but seeing Athrun's warning glance, she instead proceeded to glare at them, a glare that the three girls completely ignored.

* * *

(_Athrun POV, 3:00 P.M.)_

"Are you feeling better now?" I asked, concerned. It wasn't usual for Cagalli to be so quiet, and that made me worried. But then again, she had every reason to be. After hearing that...who wouldn't be? Even though I'm a Coordinator, those words stung. How could anyone talk about other human beings like that? And I only heard what they said at the end. I'm sure Cagalli heard a lot more, and the comments were probably directed at her, I'm sure.

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied half-heartedly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am!" She said it again, this time with her usual temper.

"That's the Cagalli I know." I remarked, smiling. And that's the Cagalli I love. Of course, I still lacked the courage to say that aloud to her, but someday...

She started to blush. That's when I realized that we were standing really close... we sit down for a moment?" She blurted out, obviously embarrassed.

I tried my best not to laugh, and replied, "Sure." I led her to a nearby bench and helped her sit down. Then I looked at the surroundings. This was probably the game corner. "Cagalli," I started, attempting to cheer her up, "do you want me to win you a stuffed animal?"

Her eyes suddenly brightened. "Of course!" Then her eyes scanned the booths excitedly looking at the dolls. "I want...that one!" She said childishly, and then laughed at her behavior.

"Good choice." I answered while laughing with her. "All right, just wait for me." She nodded happily, obviously feeling better. I approached the booth, feeling a lot more relieved.

* * *

_(Cagalli POV, 3:15 P.M.)_

I watched as Athrun walked towards the booth. He always acted so sweet towards me. Sometimes I wondered if I actually deserved him. After all, I did yell at him a lot. I really needed to be a better girlfriend. He deserved so much more, and I always gave him less.

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

"Huh?" I stared in disbelief. How could I have done anything wrong? I was sitting down the whole time...then I looked up and saw...those three again.

"Oh look, it's that Natural girl again." The red-haired girl smirked, and the other two followed. It was obvious by now that she was the leader of the three. I clutched my hand into a fist, fuming with rage. Who did she think she was? And why did she always assume things? Okay, so maybe I _am_ a Natural, but that didn't mean the other girl could treat me like dirt because of it. I opened my mouth to yell, when she commented, "That's you're boyfriend over there, right? I feel sorry for him. You probably don't treat him right."

I should have yelled, screamed, slapped her, or displayed any form of retaliation. Instead, I just sat there, trying my best not to cry. Because, in a way, she was right... "Awww...she's about to cry." The brown-haired girl mocked.

"Of course, what else did you expect?" The redhead continued. "Naturals are weak." The three then laughed and sauntered on their way.

"Cagalli I'm back." Athrun said, holding up the doll. He immediately sensed that something wasn't right, and kept on glancing back and forth between the three retreating girls and me. "Well, I guess this just isn't our day." He helped me stand, trying to comfort me. I couldn't help but be grateful. "I think we should start heading back." He suggested. Not wanting to argue, I just followed, without a word.

* * *

(4:15 P.M.)

"Athrun, am I really that clumsy?"

"Well, I admit that you're not exactly the most graceful person I met..." Athrun said, while making sure that a slap wasn't coming his way. "But I like you just the way you are." Cagalli remained speechless for a while (which was quite rare for her). Then she slowly smiled.

"I don't know what I would do without you." Without warning, she hugged him, and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Athrun's face turned red, and he just stood there, not knowing what to do.

"I...um..."

"Come on!" Cagalli beckoned laughing and pointing at the display window next to them. "I think I figured out what to get the others for Christmas." Athrun smiled, and followed.

* * *

Done! Yay!

Hopefully there wasn't too much fluff...

Weren't those girls evil? At least Athrun was there to make Cagalli feel better...go Athrun! =) lol...

So...how was the chapter? A little bit longer than the last one, but I guess it's still not that much longer...sorry...

Oh, and Yzak and Arabella in the next chapter! (This should be interesting, see...lol)


	7. Masked Duo

Yay! Reviews!

_witchesgirl-_ Wow, such a compliment...lol. Thanks, I don't know how to respond to that. =)

_SeraphimEclipse- _Yea, it is cute and funny. That's the way Athrun is! Lol...

_Miriallia Elthman- _Oh yes, I assure you, those girls are going to suffer...at least one of them...okay, giving away the story too much, I need to stop...lol

_Trisha- _Yea, Athrun should have defended her...but did you notice that those girls are there when Athrun's _not _there? They purposely try to get at Cagalli when she's alone. Evil...lol

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- _Lol...seriously, I could imagine Yzak saying something like that too. (But of course, he would probably be a hypocrite in that aspect if the same situation happened to him...lol)

Thanks also to _Chibi Fyrefly_ and _Soi_!

Hm...this chapter's going to be a challenge to write...oh well, on with it!

* * *

**Ch. 7: Masked Duo**

(2:30 P.M)

Yzak was bored. Really bored. So he proceeded to walk around aimlessly. Not that he would get lost of course. Only someone like Zala's girlfriend would do that. Yzak smiled at the thought. Athrun Zala, who always bested him in everything, at the mercy of a girl. Very amusing. But in a sense, it was unnerving. Not only did Zala show this symptom, but also just about everyone else he stayed with right now did. Kira and Lacus, although they might not admit it, were together. Even Dearka seemed to make some moves towards the brown-haired Natural girl. "Are you jealous?" The little voice inside his head asked.

Naw...

He tried to justify himself. Sure, he had a lot of opportunities to get a girlfriend if he _wanted _to. It's just that no one appealed to him. They had all been giggling idiots, who disgusted him. His thoughts cut short, when he heard a soft melody coming from the door next to him. "Flute?" Curiosity getting the better of him, although he would never admit it, he opened the door, the door, ironically enough, that led to the room that they stayed in when they got caught the other night. The first thing that caught his attention was the girl dressed in pure white, playing, as he had guessed previously, flute. "She...looks like an angel...wait, what did I just think right now?!" Yzak mentally smacked himself. He must be REALLY out of it. He shook his head back and forth until he got the thought out of his head. Once composed, he let out a snide remark. "So what are you still doing here, I thought you went with everyone else."

"Oh, I didn't notice that you were here." She answered, a bit surprised. "You should have interrupted me earlier."

"I just came in." He took a sit by a nearby chair. "So, why are you still here?"

"Well, I had some unfinished paper work to do, so I came back and finished it." She explained matter-of-fact.

"And you didn't go back?"

Arabella smiled. "I thought it would be better to leave them alone."

Yzak smirked back. Then he proceeded to look at the objects on the mini-table in front of him. "You play chess?" He asked, while picking up a knight.

"Of course." She responded back while taking a seat across from him. "Do you?"

"I used to play a lot. But after I joined ZAFT I never had time. Besides, I lost my chess set somewhere along the way." He shrugged. "So how about a game?"

"Eager to show off I see." Arabella smiled. "But you have another thing coming if you think you could beat me easily."

"We'll see." Yzak smirked, as he moved his pawn two spaces.

"Likewise." Arabella replied back, countering him with the exact same move. They both stayed silent, until the game started to get heated.

"Looks like your knight is gone." He smirked, adding to his pile.

"True, but now you left your rook defenseless." She remarked back as she took the piece and added it to her pile.

"It's not over yet."

"Who said it was?"

"Why do you always act so sweet and composed?" Yzak asked, aiming for her queen.

"Why do you always act so distant and superior?" Arabella asked back. "Check."

"Why do you wear a mask?" He retorted. "Check."

"Why do _you _wear a mask?" She retorted back. They both stayed silent.

Yzak looked back and forth between Arabella and the chessboard. "It seems that we have a stalemate."

"It seems so."

"Perhaps we could have a rematch later on. Besides, I was going easy on you." Yzak remarked.

"Same here." Arabella replied back with a smirk.

They both stayed silent for a while, feeling a bit awkward. Yzak spoke first. "Um...you play well...flute, what is."

"Oh...thank you." Arabella replied, taken aback. She never expected _him _to compliment her.

"It reminds me of someone else...back in the war days. He played piano though." Yzak explained.

"I see..." She replied. "I had a cousin who played piano too." Then her eyes became wistful. "Unfortunately I never got to see him very often. His family was completely against it."

"Why?" Yzak asked with sudden interest.

"Well, none of my father's relations were happy with us ever since my father married my mother. It just wasn't done." She replied, a bit bitter. "So the only way I got to meet my cousin was to sneak around in a disguise. Which wasn't something I could do on a regular basis."

"I see...so what happened?"

"Well," Arabella continued on, "that was the way it was until he joined ZAFT. I never could get in contact with him after that." Her eyes saddened even more. "It turned out he got killed during the war. One of his missions no doubt." They stayed silent, neither knowing what to say next. Arabella unconsciously looked at the clock. "Well, I guess I should get ready to leave." She said cheerfully. Too cheerfully. "It would be nice if you could come this time. We're going to have dinner outside, after all."

Yzak contemplated his choices. He did feel a bit out of place, but seeing how bored he was before, he decided to join. "All right, since I don't seem to have anything else to do at the moment."

"Great. I'll meet you at the front door in about...let's say thirty minutes." She suggested.

"Fine by me." With that, Yzak walked out the door. "See you then." Arabella nodded her head as she watched Yzak disappear at the corner. Sighing, she turned around and went up the stairs to her own room.

* * *

_(Arabella POV, 4: 30 P.M.)_

Fifteen more minutes to go. I looked at the mirror and sighed. What possessed me to tell him all that? I usually guard myself well. What made me crack? Trying to ease my mind, I studied my reflection. Perfect composure, perfect innocence...perfect china doll. I hated it.

"Why did you have to leave me like this?" She questioned, trying to hold back tears. "Mother, why did you have to give me this position? And father, why did you have to leave too?" It was always so hard. So hard to keep up with the responsibilities. If the country hadn't retained its monarchal tendencies, or if there happened to be a suitable replacement, I would have escaped, the first chance I had. Especially because of what I am...to earn the trust and authority, had been more difficult than it should have been. Half and half, neither quite one or the other. It was a curse, it was a blessing. "And you too..." I dug through the desk drawers, and took out a letter:

_Dear Bella,_

_How are you? It's really been awhile since we met. Well, I just wanted to tell you that...don't be in too much shock...I decided to join ZAFT. Yes, peace loving me joining the military caused quite a shock to everyone. But after the Bloody Valentine incident, I couldn't just stand and watch. I couldn't let something like that happen again. I'm not going into war for victory, but to protect people from getting hurt. Hopefully you will understand. _

_And I'm sorry to say that I don't think I could keep in contact with you until the war is over. I rarely have time to myself anymore, but more importantly, I don't want our letters to get into the wrong hands. You understand, don't you? I wish it were otherwise...maybe once the war is over we could meet, this time openly..._

I couldn't read any more of it. Not today. I slowly put the letter back, and proceeded to wipe the tears off my eyes. He had to go too. Everyone had to go, leaving me here, alone. But I couldn't blame them. It wasn't their fault. I could blame everyone, and no one. That's the way it was.

Slowly, I got up. Five more minutes. Composing myself once again, I hurriedly ran to meet Yzak, leaving a part of myself behind.

* * *

(4:45 P.M.) 

"Exactly on time." Yzak remarked as he saw Arabella approaching.

"You're on time too."

"Did you expect anything else?"

"Not really." She smiled.

Yzak looked at her once again. "It looks like you ditched the dress."

"Oh, yea. I wanted to be more comfortable." Arabella answered. She did indeed ditch the dress, and also had a jacket on with strings with cute fluffy balls at the end to tie it up. Not to mention, her complete blue outfit matched well with her eyes.

"So when are we suppose to meet them again?" Yzak asked.

"At 6:00 PM."

"Isn't it a bit early?"

"Well, I thought we should do a quick Christmas shopping before we go and meet them." She smiled mischievously. Before Yzak could protest, he was ushered into the car. "Come on, we're going to be late."

* * *

So that's it for this chapter! =)

Maybe it's a bit too melodramatic near the end, but oh well...

Like I said, this chapter was harder to write than the other two because it was hard to keep Yzak from going completely OOC. But hopefully I did a good enough job.

Oh, and I think I gave enough hints in this chapter...hopefully you figured out them all...lol.

Hm...so the only one's left now are Kira and Lacus. Wait for that one too! Thanks!


	8. Not Yet Spoken

Oh my goodness, the reviews! =)

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl-_ did I ever tell you your account name is hard to spell? Lol...anyways, thanks for reviewing again, and as to your comment, (looks the other way while whistling...lol) And Yzak and Arabella hooking up soon? Hm...we'll see...(I just sounded evil there didn't I? Lol)

_Miriallia Elthman-_ Yea, everyone's been wondering about that...Oh, and the Haro attack...as much as I would love to have that in the chapter, I don't think I should steal another author's ideas...thanks for the input though!

_King Arthur- _About the three girls, don't we all wish that? =) Oh, and I'm glad that you're happy to see this chapter...hopefully I won't disappoint you! =)

_Miss Akira- _Yes, Yzak is awesome, I think most of us agree on that...lol. Oh, and what they got each other for Christmas? We'll see...lol. =)

_Anime Lovers Society of the Philippines- _Thanks for the review! I'll ask for help when I need it. Thanks!

_witchesgirl- _Thank you, thank you, thank you!

_alex- _Yes, there will definitely be more stuff going on between them...just wait awhile...thanks!

_mal- _Oh, hee...hee...Yes, sorry for the slow update, but I was out of town for awhile and didn't have access to the computer...oh well...anyways, thanks for asking me to hurry up!

_Soi- _As to your guessing, (looking the other way) lol...you get the point. =) Oh, and yes, poor Arabella...and about her parents, you'll eventually find out! =)

Thanks also go to: _Lilangel4u, Angel of Dreams, Prayer Reverie, CHIBI NEKO, soul, and Shadowsin_! (hopefully that's everyone)

All right, let's start this!

* * *

**Ch. 8: Not Yet Spoken**

(2:00 P.M.)

"Kira, where are we going?"

"Well, actually, I have no idea..." Kira scratched his head.

"At least we're going somewhere." Lacus smiled. They walked aimlessly for a couple more minutes when Lacus pointed at something. "Kira, look!"

Kira glanced at the direction and spotted an outdoor ice skating rink. "You want to go try it?"

Lacus nodded her head. "I want to. But I never skated on ice before, so I don't know..."

Kira smiled, and gently led her towards the rink. "Well, I can't say I'm much of a skater either, but I could teach you."

"All right." Lacus replied, yet still a bit nervous. Soon, they rented skates and started to skate around. Or rather, Lacus tried her best not to fall flat on her face while Kira supported her. The fact that Pink-chan bounced back and forth excitedly around her didn't help much either.

I think you're getting the hang of it now." Kira smiled. "I'm going to let go of you, so try to skate towards me."

"Kira, I don't think..." She started to protest. "Pink-chan, could you please stop...ah!" Lacus slipped and fell straight into Kira. Unknowingly, Kira wrapped his arms around her. The two stayed in that position, blinking, until the haro started making a commotion again.

"I...well..." Kira started to blush.

"Um...sorry about that..." Lacus blushed back.

"So...um, you want to try it again?" Kira asked, quickly changing the subject.

"All...all right." She answered, although she had a hard time not blushing again.

"Okay, this time I'm going to be at the other side of the rink." He pointed towards that direction. Seeing Lacus glance nervously, he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, you can do it."

"If you say so." She replied, giving him her trust. After all, whom else could she trust? "All right, I could do this." She thought to herself. "Okay, Pink-chan, let's go!" The haro responded by bouncing back and forth excitedly. Lacus sweat-dropped. "What am I going to do with you?" Half way across, she started to gain confidence. "I'm starting to get used to this, don't you think Pink-chan?" Only silence responded back. "Pink-chan?"

"What do you think this piece of junk does?" Lacus turned around, to see a group of boys snickering. One of them had the haro, which struggled to get out of his grip.

"Could you please give it back?" Lacus attempted to ask nicely.

"Well, well, look what we have here." The boys smirked while looking at her up and down one times too many.

"So...um...can I have it back?" She asked again, getting nervous.

"Well that..." The boys made a circle around her while their leader continued talking. "Depends on what's in it for us."

"Um...I'll be going now..." Lacus panicked.

The boy grabbed her wrist roughly. "I don't think so."

"Let go!" Lacus struggled. "Please..." Within the next second, the boy was knocked out on the floor, as the rest of them cowered under the gaze of the enraged Kira.

"Leave. Her. Alone." Kira commanded them, with a dangerous glint in his eyes. The boys disappeared, dragging with them their unconscious friend.

"Are you all right?" Kira asked as soon as the boys left.

"Yes. Oh, and thank you." Her face turned red.

"No problem." He answered back, just as nervous. "Maybe we should rest for awhile." Lacus nodded as they sat at a nearby bench. "Hot chocolate?"

"Oh, thank you." Lacus replied, as Kira handed her a cup. Then they both stayed silent, each person engrossed in his or her own thoughts.

* * *

_(Kira POV, 3:40 P.M.)_

I sat there, staring at her until her gaze turned towards me. She was perfect. There couldn't have been a more perfect person in front of me right now. Always caring, always understanding...so why was I being such an idiot right now?

Fllay...

She still haunts my dreams sometimes. Certain times I see her sweet and caring. Other times she's vengeful, blaming me for her father's death...her death. I can't shake her off. She's there, blaming me...

Guilt...

She did forgive me in the end...or at least I think her spirit did. But the nagging emotion is still there, attacking me at the most unexpected times. If only I could have done something...

Redemption...

But sometimes, I dream, expecting to see Fllay's face, but end up seeing Lacus's instead. I feel safer then. Almost as if I could finally let go...

She's looking at me now, her eyes quizzical. I smile to reassure her. Then I realize how much better she is. So much better than Fllay. It's just that...it's going to take time. What I ask of her, is that she wait. If she doesn't, I wouldn't stop her. She deserves to be happy, and if someone else could make her that way, I wouldn't hesitate to give them my best wishes. But just looking at her, I could almost sense that she's willing to wait...

* * *

_(Lacus POV, 3: 40 P.M.)_

I turn to look at Kira, who just turned his head away from me, acting as if he wasn't looking my way. Attempting to stifle my giggles, I also look away, although my feelings tell me otherwise. Kira Yamato, what's going on inside your head?

When you saved me before, I thought that you finally realized. But after awhile, you started acting like your usual self again. Oh, I'm not complaining much. You're always gentle with me, acting sweet, caring...the list could go on. But you still seem so...distant. You seem so tormented, as if something's haunting you night and day. Of course, the others sense it too, but they're busy with their adjustments also. Or perhaps, it's just that I sense it better than the others, and they realize it, and basically giving us space to work it out. So how can I help you Kira?

I know you sense that I'm looking at you. In return you smile back. Just trying to reassure me, I know. But a lot of times I think it should be the other way around. You've been through a lot. Maybe it's time you let other's do the worrying...I couldn't help this time but let out a few giggles.

"What's so funny?" You ask good-naturedly.

"Oh, nothing." I reply ignoring the suspicious look you're giving me.

When I look into your eyes, it's almost as if you're pleading with me. Almost as if you're saying, "wait for me". And of course, that's one request I would gladly fulfill.

"Aren't those kids adorable?" I comment while pointing to them, trying to get you're attention. You just smile, as you watch them struggling to make a snowman. I take that as a yes. "Hm...I think I found what to get everyone for Christmas."

"You _want _to go shopping?" You suddenly come out of your daze, alarmed.

"Of course, it's Christmas after all. We should go buy everyone gifts. Especially for Arabella, since she's been such a good hostess and all." I smile inwardly. A perfect set-up for a guilt trip.

"Well, since you put it that way..." You manage to smile. "If that's what you really want, I'll do as you ask." We walk away from the ice rink and instead looked at the shop windows as we pass by.

We never said anything to each other yet, but we know.

* * *

Chapter done! Yay! Go Kira! lol... 

Hm...this chapter had a slight twist near the end that I didn't intend at first, but then again, a lot of times the characters end up controlling the story...know what I mean?

Well, that was the last of the separate chapter!

Wondering what would happen once everyone meets together again? lol...=)


	9. Broken Facade

Reviews, reviews....lol

_King Arthur6687- _I'm glad you liked the chapter! ) Oh, and no, the boys aren't related to the girls, although that would have been interesting. And...sorry to disappoint you again, but the characters won't know what they got each other until chapter ten...so sorry...

_Heaven's Reaper- _Yes, the last one was definitely more than usual. I did that mostly because I wanted to explain the situation they were in...and what better way to do that than to go into their thoughts and feelings? )

mal- Thanks for the compliment ). Oh, and don't worry about it, no need to apologize. And as to how many chapters, well I don't know exactly, but I'm going to put up a rough estimate on my bio when I update it. (If it's not already up there by the time you end up reading this chapter, don't worry cause it's going to be up there really soon) 

_Gundam Seed Fangirl_- Yes, yes, most people do say Cagalli's a Coordinator, and for the most part I agree with them too...but I was thinking about it and then I realized that probably no one in the series knows that she is...so not to lose perspective I'm going to continue the way I originally intended with a few modifications but that's about it. (Hm...maybe I wasn't very clear about what I was saying in that note...oops...sorry to everyone that misunderstood...)

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- _Thanks! I'm usually not very good with fluff...but I guess this one turned out ok...thanks again for your support!

_Miss Akira-_ It's good to know you're happy about the last chapter! ) Yea, sorry I don't have the present part in this chapter...because I realized there's going to be one more thing happening before Christmas...please be patient! Thanks!

_witchesgirl- _Such a creative review! ) Thank you so much for always encouraging me!

* * *

**Ch. 9: Broken Facade**

"So Lacus, what do you have in those bags?"

"And what do you have in yours, Cagalli?"

"Not telling." Cagalli smiled.

"Then I'm not telling either." Lacus smiled back.

"Oh, come on!" Cagalli whined.

"You'll just have to wait until Christmas morning." Lacus flashed a satisfied smirk. Everyone blinked a couple times.

"Whoa, I never knew Lacus had it in her." Dearka commented as he patted Kira's shoulder. "Looks like you're going to have to watch it now Yamato. You never know what she'll do next."

"Thanks...I think." Kira sweat-dropped.

"Well, if you're all going to keep your presents as secrets until Christmas, I might as well do that too." Miriallia added.

"That would be interesting...besides, I don't know how everyone would react once they see Cagalli's." Athrun added in a low voice.

"What did you just say Athrun?!" Cagalli gave him an angry look.

"Nothing, nothing..." Athrun looked nervous again.

"Don't you think you're being too oppressive towards your boyfriend?" Dearka remarked, after which he hid behind Miriallia.

"Why, you!"

The girls tried to calm Cagalli down, and the boys looked on, amused. Then Dearka looked down at the piles of shopping bags that they carried. "Why does this not surprise me?"

"Did you expect to be surprised?" Athrun mockingly asked.

"You know, maybe Yzak was smart in not coming with us." Dearka remarked jokingly while trying to change the subject.

"Why are you guys talking about Yzak all of a sudden?" Cagalli asked, her temper apparently cooled down.

"Just something about him not being here."

"Yes, he should have just come with us." Lacus commented.

"Naw...besides, it's not like he has a match here anyway." With that, Dearka threw a furtive glance towards Miriallia, which she pretended to ignore.

"Hm...a match...that's it!" Cagalli shouted. Everyone looked at her confusedly. "We need to get him a girlfriend! Maybe then he won't act so tense all the time."

"I'm not sure it would work..." Athrun started when Dearka suddenly cut him off.

"Hm...Yzak with a girl? I would like to see _that_ happening." Dearka suddenly grinned evilly. "But that would make it even more fun to hook him up. Who do you have in mind?"

"Arabella."

"Well, that's...WHAT?!!" Everyone stared at Cagalli incredulously.

"Do you have anything better in mind then?" Cagalli challenged them.

"Well," Lacus spoke up first, "I guess it could work out. What do you think?" She asked Kira, who had been silent the whole time.

"I'm not sure." Kira admitted. "I don't know Yzak that well. Why don't we ask people that know him better?" Kira glanced at Dearka and Athrun.

"It's going to be hard, but hey, let's give it a shot." Dearka remarked.

"I say it's going to work." Everyone stared at Athrun, surprised.

"But...weren't you saying before that..."

"I was commenting on the general scheme of trying to get Yzak together with a girl." Athrun explained. "He's too impulsive and temperamental. Besides, I get the feeling that he's extremely picky."

"That doesn't explain to us why you think it would work." The girls asked, confused.

Athrun smiled a knowing smile. "That's just it. I think Arabella meets his expectations, although he's not going to admit it. Also, if you notice how they interact with each other, you can tell that Arabella can counter his temper and his other bad traits."

"I'll agree to that." Miriallia smiled. "But don't you think we're all being a bit out of character by playing matchmaker?"

"Well, we are, but aren't we starting new lives as well?" Lacus suddenly pointed out. "The war's over and all there is needed to do is to secure peace. We need to makes changes to our lives anyways, so what's the difference in changing our perspectives a little?"

"That was nicely said." Kira complimented her. Lacus just blushed.

"Well, certain things still don't change though." Dearka snickered.

"So what plan did you have in mind Cagalli?" Lacus asked, ignoring Dearka.

"And just what plan is this?" A voice behind them asked.

"Who...oh, hi Arabella!" Cagalli stammered nervously, sweat-dropping. "When did you come?"

"Oh, just when I heard Lacus asking you something about a plan." Arabella looked a bit confused. "If you don't mind, could you tell me what it's about?"

"Well..."

"The girls were trying to figure out a way to keep us from guessing what they got for us." Athrun said.

"Oh, I see." Arabella smiled. "Well, come on, get inside the car. I managed to convince Yzak to come along as well."

"You did? Great!" Cagalli burst out. But seeing Arabella giving her a curious look, she laughed nervously.

"Anyways, good save." Cagalli whispered into Athrun's ear as they entered the car.

"Anytime." He whispered back.

* * *

"So, could you at least tell me what present you got for Athrun?" Arabella asked Cagalli while twirling her fork with the last of her pasta.

"Oh...well, that is...um, I need to go to the bathroom...I'll be right back." She walked up, acting nervous.

"Well...we'll be back too." Lacus and Miriallia followed her.

"I wonder what's going on?" Arabella commented out loud.

"Who knows?" Dearka shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to see what's going on." With that, she headed off also. Walking into the bathroom, she asked, "what are you girls doing? Huh, what?" Arabella managed to blurt out before the girls grabbed her and dragged her inside. Completely confused, Arabella looked back and forth between the three girls. "Okay, so what's going on?"

"Well, to be honest..." Cagalli fidgeted a bit. "We didn't get presents for our specific guys yet."

"But I thought you did...all those shopping bags..."

"Well, those are for everyone else." Lacus explained. "I didn't want Kira to know what I bought him until Christmas, so it was kind of hard to buy anything while he stayed around."

"Same here." Cagalli and Miriallia added.

Cagalli looked curiously at Miriallia. "You too? So you and Dearka..."

"Well, I promised him to buy a present...and anyways, so could we make a quick getaway and do some fast shopping?" Miriallia asked Arabella, trying to change the subject quickly.

"Well, alright, I suppose." Arabella agreed.

"By the way, did you already do some shopping?" Cagalli asked with mischievous glints in her eyes.

"Yes. Why?"

"Oh, because..." The three girls started to fidget nervously again. Cagalli spoke up. "Well, because...you noticed that all the guys are going to end up with additional separate presents, right?"

"Um yea..." Now Arabella started to get nervous because she had a feeling where this was going to lead up to.

"Well, that is..." Cagalli continued. "All except for Yzak..."

"So, you're suggesting that I buy something for him, right?"

"Right!" The other three said in unison.

"Well, I guess I wouldn't mind." Arabella answered, although turning slightly pink on the cheeks. "But I don't know what he would like..."

"Oh, just buy him anything. He's not that picky." Cagalli lied, hoping that Arabella bought it.

"Alright then." Arabella replied, although she did have some reserves about it. "Let's tell the boys that we'll be gone for about...let's see...an hour."

"Sounds good to me."

"Alright. Hopefully they don't realize what's going on though."

* * *

"Do any of you have any idea why they left?" Kira asked.

"Not really." Dearka replied. "Maybe they were trying to tell us something."

"What could they be implying? I don't think we did anything..." Athrun stopped, his eyes wide open. "Oh no, I can't believe I forgot..."

"What did you forget?"

"I...I forgot to get Cagalli a present."

"What?" The usually quite Yzak roared with laughter. "Of all things Zala, you forgot to get your girlfriend a present? The former top gun of ZAFT who always managed to remember everything else forgot something like that? This is hilarious!"

"Well, you do have to realize that there were huge crowds everywhere today...it's kind of hard to think when that's the case." Dearka defended, his face turning red also.'

"In other words, you forgot to get Miriallia a present too." Kira added, smiling. "It seems as if though we're all in the same position."

"Correction." Yzak butted in. "You _three_ are in that position. Not me." The three boys each had an evil smirk on, unnerving Yzak.

"Hm...Athrun, don't you think something's missing?" Dearka asked innocently.

"Yes, I think so." Athrun replied. "Don't you think so too Kira?"

"I agree." Kira answered, trying to keep a straight face.

"All right you three, stop trying to play games with me." Yzak ordered, frustrated.

"What we're trying to say is that out of the four girls, only three are getting separate presents...so we were wondering if you would take care of the last person."

"Wait, what makes you think I'll go along with that?" Yzak laughed. "Forget it."

"Why, are you too scared about what her reaction will be?" Dearka teased. "If that's how you feel about it, then..."

"Hold on. Who said I was scared?" Yzak remarked defensively. "Fine, I'll get her a present. Now hurry up!" With that, Yzak walked outside. The other three stayed still for a few more seconds, looking amused, before joining him.

"How did you two know that that was going to work?" Kira asked, curious.

"If there's one thing we know about Yzak, it's the fact that he never backs down from a challenge." Athrun sighed. "Hopefully the girls will be happy."

* * *

Miriallia looked around the store nervously. "What to get...what to get..." In all honestly, she had no idea what to get Dearka.

"May I help you miss?" The store clerk asked.

"Oh, no thank you. Just looking." She glanced at a particular section of the store. Then she remembered something. "Hopefully this will do..."

* * *

"What to get Miriallia..." Dearka paused. He really had no idea. Sure, he knew a lot of girls, so he knew generally what they wanted. But Miriallia was different...He stopped in front of a store. An idea came into his mind. "Is it too risky?" He stood there pondering about it for a moment. "I'll just have to take the risk then." With that, he entered the store.

* * *

"I wonder what I'll get for Kira." Lacus wandered around aimlessly. Kira would probably say that he wouldn't mind anything if she asked him, but she wanted to get him something meaningful, something to help him out. "Ouch." Not looking particularly at where she walked, she accidentally bumped into someone, who, funny enough, happened to be Dearka coming out of the store.

"Sorry about that Dearka." Lacus apologized. Then she noticed that he tried to hide something behind his back. "Who's that present for?"

"Pre...Present?" Dearka laughed nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about...um...got to go." He ran off as if his life depended on it. Lacus stayed at the spot, trying her hardest not to burst into laughter. Dearka really did like Miriallia a lot. Hopefully they would end up being together. "Especially with how sad she seems sometimes." She added.

Lacus proceeded to look at the shop in front of her when something inside caught her eye. "If I could just ask for a couple things from the others...this would be perfect!" With that, she ran into the store.

* * *

"I'm really, really bad with shopping." Kira groaned. "Let's see...what am I suppose to look for again? Something pretty? Cute?" He was really running out of ideas. "Um...let's try this store." He looked around a few times before going in. Once inside, he saw something that quite resembled... "This is going to be amusing." With that, Kira grabbed the item.

* * *

"What is she doing?" Athrun pondered as he saw Cagalli purchased something. A slow smile creep up his face. Apparently, she forgot to get him a gift too. Well, no matter. In fact, it was better this way.

After he made certain that Cagalli left, he walked up to the same salesman. "Excuse me, but could you give me the exact same thing she just got?"

* * *

Arabella didn't know Yzak very well. So she had to go with what she _did _know.

"Is there anything I could help you with..." The sales clerk's eyes opened wide. "Princess! It's been such a long time...are you sure it's okay for you to be alone?"

"Yes, yes, it's all right." She reassured him. "And as for not being here for awhile, it's because you're the best at making those items." She remarked, pointing to the things in the shop. "It's been six years and I still don't need to replace anything. The items are very durable, yet still show excellent craftsmanship."

"I'm very flattered..." He replied back. "So I take it that you are purchasing another one for a gift?"

"You guessed correctly." She smiled.

"Anything catch your eyes yet? Or should I recommend?"

"How about that one?" She asked, pointing.

"Yes, definitely. That's a very good choice. If the person is the type of person who enjoys this type of thing, he or she will definitely like this gift."

"I hope so." She smiled nervously.

* * *

"To get a present for Arabella..." Yzak really had to keep himself from getting frustrated. "What do girls like anyway?" He had no idea. Of course, he never admitted that to anyone though. So he completely blew it off when the guys gave him some suggestions. Now he started to regret it.

He paused by a store, contemplating. "Well, I guess one of these might do..." So he started searching. "No, this one might be a bit too big...what about this one...no, the color doesn't work out...hm...wait a minute, why do I even care?" He stopped himself. Yes, why did he care? Why didn't he just grab the first thing in the store? He was just doing this to prove himself. Right? Right?

Yzak groaned. This was getting too complicated. Deciding not to think about it, he continued on his search.

* * *

"Hey, you guys bought something too?"

"Um...yea, we did." Both the guys and the girls fidgeted nervously, trying to hide from each other what went on.

"So Arabella, when is the car coming?" Cagalli asked, trying to stir up a conversation.

"It should be here in about five minutes or so." She replied.

"Oh, that's good because..."

"Watch out!" The next moment, something whizzed past them, causing the window behind them to shatter into a million fragments.

Across from them stood four men, each holding a gun, while still enveloped in the shadows. "Cagalli, get the rest of the girls out of here." Athrun shouted as he maneuvered his way around the street to get closer.

"But Athrun..."

"Cagalli, we don't have time for this now!" Athrun yelled as he barely missed getting hit by a bullet. Not wanting to argue, the girls went out of harm's way, all except Arabella.

"What do you think you're doing? Run!"

"No." She replied coldly.

"This seriously isn't the time for...hey, where did you get that gun?"

"Do you think this is the first time someone tried to assassinate me?" Arabella retorted, matter-of-fact. "I always come prepared. Besides, this is my problem, so I'm going to handle it."

"But..."

"Just go along with it, all right?" Arabella yelled, frustrated. "There's no time to waste."

The boys sighed in resignation. "Okay, what do you want us to do?"

"I'll distract them, and the rest of you sneak up on them..."

"All right, we got it."

Arabella took a deep breath and then started firing. Sure enough, the four men put their concentration on her, not aware of the others creeping near them. "Now!" The boys took their chance and lunged at the men. Caught by surprised, three of them were disarmed immediately while the last one accidentally shot himself.

"They're getting away!" Cagalli yelled as the girls ran back.

"Let them go. We got one of them." Arabella slowly approached the bleeding man. "With that wound, you're not going to live long. So might as well tell me what you're up to."

The man had a smug look on his face. "I don't betray my own kind..." He slumped, breathing his last.

"Great, useless." Yzak murmured.

"Not quite." Arabella looked around, searching for something. She looked at the man's right hand, and took off a simple gold band from it. "Just as I thought." She snorted in disgust. "Purists."

"Huh?" Everyone else looked confused.

"Here." Arabella handed the ring to them. "Look at the inscriptions inside the ring."

_To purge the world of all who are unworthy_

"Purists are basically like Blue Cosmos expect they are Natural haters." She explained to them.

"I don't think I've ever heard of them." Lacus said.

"I'm not surprised. They basically watched ZAFT do all the dirty work." Arabella continued. "But since everyone's going towards peace, they decided to step up."

"Any specific reason that they started targeting you?" Kira asked, suspicious.

"Perhaps." Arabella stayed completely silent after that, regardless of how many questions the others tried to ask. She had to stay silent no matter what, or otherwise, unnecessary people will be in danger as well.

* * *

"We're sorry sir, we failed." The three men cowered under his gaze.

He walked circles around them. "I would have liked it if you three had finished the job." He sighed in pity. "But in all honesty I didn't expect success anyways."

"Sir, what are we going to do now?" One of them asked, frightened. "She'll know who attacked her...the ring..."

He chuckled. "That, she already knew. She didn't learn anything more than she already knew tonight." The men felt relived that their leader didn't look angry, but rather amused. "Our dear princess is very clever. When it comes to info, she already has everything, expect the few minor details such as who I am and what precise location in the city we're in. Of course, she pretty much could guess that too if she chooses to. But, she hasn't figured it out yet. She still has a long way to go before she could put the pieces together. And that enough gives us enough chance to succeed." He gave out a laugh. "I already made a move princess. But sorry to say, I might have to make another one before you do."

* * *

Whoa...this chapter was looooooong compared to my previous ones...lol...

Okay, I'm not very good at writing action parts so hopefully it didn't completely suck near the end...

And of course, things are getting more and more interesting...)

On a brighter note, you get to find out about the presents next chapter! Yay!


	10. Presents and Surprises

Yay! The reviews!

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl-_ Who says he's ever going to find out? Lol...And yea, Athrun does seem a bit cheap at this point, but there's a reason why he did that. (hopefully it's a good one...lol)

_Sakura Kuonji- _Yes, it is pretty funny that they got presents for everyone except each other...of all things to forget...lol

_Angel of Dreams- _Yea, it is pretty funny that they forgot, and it's amusing to watch them get frustrated and nervous about finding the right gift! XD

_Lilangel4u, witchesgirl, SeraphimEclipse, King Arthur6687, Kichi-chan, Anin, and Miss Akira-_ Yes, we _all _want to know what the presents are! Lol...hopefully I don't mess up your expectations...

Oh, and thanks also to _mal_, _Miriallia Elthman, _and _DreamAnimeKitten_ (I think that's everyone...)

Thank you everyone!

* * *

Ch. 10: Presents and Surprises

"It's Christmas!" Cagalli shouted as she ran back and forth across the hall.

"Doesn't she ever run out of energy?" Dearka remarked sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"I doubt it." Kira remarked, poking his head out of the door. "I don't know how Athrun keeps up with it."

"I heard that you two." Athrun walked out of his room and approached them with a smirk.

"Hey everyone, hurry up! I want to see presents!" Cagalli yelled.

"All right, all right!" Due to Cagalli's urging, everyone dressed quickly and headed towards the parlor.

"What about Arabella?" Lacus asked.

"Oh, that's right." Cagalli suddenly had a mischievous smile on her face. "Yzak, could you go get her?"

"Why do I have to..." Unfortunately, by the time Yzak managed to say those words, everyone else had already crossed a couple halls and were entering the parlor. "Fine then." Yzak huffed and went on his way. Everyone else had to try hard to keep a straight face.

* * *

"Me first!" Cagalli shouted as she passed out her gifts to everyone except Athrun.

"I wonder what it is." Dearka commented as he shook the small package.

"Just open it!"

"All right, all right, goodness...how do you deal with her temper Zala?" Dearka smirked, angering Cagalli more.

Everyone opened the package at the same time. "Socks?" They sweat-dropped.

"Um...Cagalli has a bit of an eccentric taste." Athrun explained in a low voice as he tried to dodge Cagalli's evil glares.

"They're nice...thank you Cagalli." The girls managed to say. Unlike them, the guys stayed silent, because they knew that whatever came out of their mouths would probably result in a smack on the head.

"Now my present." Lacus smiled as she handed her presents to everyone except Kira. Everyone opened the packages and found a pair of gloves in different colors. "I got the idea when I went ice skating with Kira." Lacus explained. "There were these children that were making a snowman, and they were freezing their fingers. And since it's still winter, I thought you might like these."

"Thank you!" Everyone said in unison as they tried the gloves on.

"These fit nicely." Miriallia commented. "Okay, now it's my presents." She handed out a box to everyone except Dearka. They all found neatly folded scarves, each in the respective receivers' colors. "I got the idea when I saw Dearka choking because of them." Miriallia laughed. "Like Lacus said, it's still a bit cold, so I thought these would warm everyone up." Everyone thanked her.

"These are so soft." Arabella commented as she wrapped her periwinkle one around her neck. "Okay, time to give out mine." She handed each of them, except Yzak, a package. "I honestly didn't know what do get everyone, so hopefully this would be okay."

"Cool, hats!" Cagalli remarked as she tried hers on.

"This would be perfect for hiding when Cagalli makes a fool out of herself in public." Dearka joked.

"Why you! I had enough comments from you for one morning!" She stood up, shaking her fist.

"Come on Cagalli, let's go back to your room." Athrun whispered into her ear. "I have something to give you."

"Um...alright." She blushed. "I have something for you too." Ignoring the smirks from everyone else, they exited the room together.

"Kira, could you come with me, I need to give you something too." Lacus shyly asked.

"I got you a present just like you asked." Miriallia told Dearka. "Let's go and get it."

Soon, the only occupants in the parlor were Yzak and Arabella. "Um...I'll just go back." Yzak stammered, trying to hide his nervousness. Before Arabella could respond, Yzak ran out of the parlor. "What's wrong with me?" He mentally smacked himself. "All I had to do was give her the present and leave." He sighed. "Well, I guess I have to use the indirect approach then."

* * *

"So, Athrun, what were you going to give me?" Cagalli asked, curious.

"And what were you going to give me?" Athrun asked, smiling, as he slowly closed the door.

"Well...hey, you mentioned a gift first!" Cagalli protested.

"Okay, okay, you win." Athrun smiled as he took a small object out of his pocket.

"That's...that's the same thing..." Cagalli stammered.

"I think we had the same thing in mind." Athrun smiled as he slipped it on her finger. "It's not a proposal just yet, but I thought a promise ring would do for now."

"A matching one." Cagalli smirked as she did the same thing. "It's more fitting this way. Maybe it was a good thing you were spying on me."

"You know it is." He murmured as he gave her a gentle kiss.

* * *

"So Kira, why did you bring me to your room?" Lacus asked innocently.

"Well, that's because..." He smirked as he brought out a puffy object from under his bed. "This is where I hid your present."

"Oh, it's so cute!" Lacus squealed as she held the doll in her arms. "It looks so much like Pink-chan!"

"Yea, the first time I saw it I had to blink a couple times to make sure that the real haro wasn't following me." Kira joked. "Well, I can't make haros like that, but at least I could get things that look like them." He smiled.

"This is great!" Lacus thanked him, and then suddenly turned shy. "I...I have something for you too." She handed him a little picture album. Curious, Kira opened it.

"This...this is..." Kira stammered.

Lacus smiled warmly at him. "I asked for pictures from everyone. Miriallia gave me a lot of the ones with the Archangel crew, and Athrun gave me the ones when you two were young...you were cute by the way." She pointed it out, causing Kira to blush. "Cagalli also gave me some, I put some...basically everyone gave something." She suddenly grew serious. "We just wanted you to know that we'll always be here for you. And..." She added, shyly. "I'll always be by your side no matter what."

In one swift motion, Kira had Lacus in his arms. "Thank you so much for everything."

At first, shocked by Kira's sudden actions, Lacus was at a loss of words. But after realizing that this felt so right... "I would like to say the same thing. Thank you for everything Kira."

* * *

"So here it is, Dearka." Miriallia said as she handed him the object.

_(flashback)_

"I'm so glad that someone managed to find us." Miriallia thought as she entered the room. They had been stuck in the icy snowstorm for who-knows how many hours, and the rescue team didn't arrive a second too soon. Throwing off her wet things, she put on new clothes. "Now, what to do with these..." She thought as she looked at the discarded items.

Something caught the corner of her eyes. "Dearka's jacket!" She had been wearing it the whole time, and because it was so cold, she hadn't thought about it before. Picking it up, she examined it closely. It was dripping wet, and torn at some sides. Regardless to say, it was ruined. "How am I going to approach him about this?" Miriallia thought guiltily. But seeing that she had no choice in the matter, she summoned her courage and softly knocked on his door.

"Come in." He replied.

Hesitantly, she walked inside. "Um...Dearka, about your jacket...well, I um...kind of accidentally ruined it."

"It's fine." He replied.

"Well, okay...well, that is, if you're sure..." Feeling a bit awkward, she started walking out.

"I rather have you well than my jacket intact." He said after her.

_(end flashback)_

"You decided to get me a new one since you ruined my old one." Dearka smiled as he held up the jacket.

"Well, to be honest, that was the only item that I managed to think up." Miriallia confessed.

"Hey, this is pretty nice." Dearka remarked, trying it on.

"I'm glad you like it." Miriallia replied back. "Well then..."

"Hold on." Dearka stopped her. "Well, that is...I got something for you too." He handed her a picture frame.

"Um...this is for..." Miriallia asked, confused.

"It's so that you don't need to keep on posting that picture on the wall." Dearka replied, pointing.

"Oh...thank you." Miriallia replied, feeling awkward. She turned around and proceeded to take the picture off the wall.

"But I hope that one of these days, you'll replace that picture with one of mine."

Miriallia froze. Slowly turning around, she stammered, "Dearka...I..."

He was already gone.

* * *

"Yzak? What are you doing here?" Yzak almost jumped at the sound of the voice. He had snuck into Arabella's common room to drop the present and leave. Unfortunately, he got caught in the process.

"I was just..." Yzak stammered, trying to come up with a buyable excuse. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of one.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" Arabella asked, curious.

"Well...I...ah what the heck...here you go." He handed her a small box wrapped in blue paper and silver ribbons. Not going to blush, not going to blush, he reminded himself.

Slowly, Arabella unwrapped her gift, causing Yzak to sweat. She gasped at what she saw. "It's so beautiful!" In her hand, she held a star-shaped pendant, with brilliant sapphires encrusted in the middle and on the edges.

"What about the earrings?" He asked nervously, finally finding the courage to say something.

She took out the dangling matching earrings. "These are pretty too!" Then without realizing what she was doing, she leaned forward and gave him a quick hug. When the realization hit her, she blushed madly, and took a few steps back. "Um...well, thank you so much for the present..."

Yzak, during this whole time, had stayed frozen, in shock. When finally coming back to himself, he turned as red as a tomato. "Well, I'm glad you liked it...um...got to go!" With that, he hurried out of the room, before Arabella could manage another word. He walked back to his room in a daze. What just happened?

"You seem a bit out of it." Yzak turned around to find a slightly smirking Athrun.

"You seem to be slightly off yourself." Yzak retorted back. Athrun merely shrugged and went on his way. Yzak approached his room. "I don't remember leaving the door open." He poked his head inside, and saw a wrapped package on his bed. Curious, he went inside, closing the door after him. He opened the package, and stared at the contents with a weird expression on his face. "Who would send me this?" Then he noticed a note, which had been under the package.

_You said you lost yours, so I decided to get you a replacement. Why glass, you ask? Other than the obvious aesthetic value, I thought it would help keep your temper in check. Wouldn't want to have a bleeding hand now, would we? So go and practice so that we can have a rematch. And this time, don't hold back, because I won't either. With that said, Merry Christmas!_

Yzak couldn't help but smile at the note. "Merry Christmas to you too, Arabella."

* * *

"So I take it that everyone's happy?" Arabella asked as they sat down for lunch. Everyone nodded in agreement, although some more so then others. Miriallia and Dearka seemed to try to avoid looking at each other's eyes, but when they did, they seemed as if they wanted to do the very opposite. Athrun and Cagalli were joking around with each other and laughing, even more so then usual, and even Kira and Lacus seemed to be talking more. Yzak stayed quiet, but his demeanor seemed to have brightened a bit. But of course, not that he would admit that to anyone.

"Well Bella, I'm glad to see that you're happy." Arabella looked up, surprised. "Elise?"

A girl with blond hair and chocolate eyes beamed back at her. "Of course it's me! Who did you think it was?"

Laughing, Arabella went up to her best friend and gave her a hug. "What...what are you doing here? I thought that you wouldn't be able to come and visit until spring."

"Well, I had a change of plans, and grandmother sent me a ticket right away." She explained.

"Grandmother?" Cagalli suddenly interrupted them with a question.

"Oh, sorry." Arabella apologized. "I forgot to introduce. This is Elise, and as to her grandmother, that would be Nora."

"You're related to Nora?"

"Yes, I am." She replied brightly. "Kind of hard to see the resemblance, isn't it...oh, by the way, who are these cuties?" Elise remarked, causing the boys to slightly blush and the girls' eyes to slightly narrow. "Why Bella, you certainly did change. A year ago you would barely talk to boys, and now you're living with four of them." She teased.

"Stop exaggerating." Arabella reproached.

"All right, all right!" Elise laughed out loud. "Just kidding, can't I have a joke?"

"Whatever you say." Arabella replied, with a slight sarcasm.

"So, are you going to introduce them to me, or what?"

"Okay. Well, that's Athrun, Kira, Dearka, and Yzak." Arabella said, pointing at each of them.

"And I'm Cagalli, Athrun's _girlfriend_." Cagalli emphasized, glaring.

"And I'm Lacus...and well..." Lacus said nervously while looking at Kira.

"I think I get it." Elise replied, smiling. Then her eyes trailed to Miriallia, who had happened to seat next to Dearka due to the seating arrangements. "And I take it that you two..."

"Oh, no..." Miriallia stammered. "That's not the case...by the way, my names Miriallia."

"I see..." Elise gave a knowing smile. "Oh, and don't take what I said before seriously." She said, noticing Cagalli's glare. "It's a habit. Of course, Arabella here says that I'm a bit of a flirt, but then again, what does she know?" Elise laughed, while Arabella rolled her eyes.

"I take it that you made your typical entrance?" Everyone turned around to see a smiling Nora.

"Yes I did grandmother." Elise replied, beaming. "Is there anything you wanted with me?"

"Oh no." Nora replied. "But I wanted to tell Arabella that Ray sent a message." Everyone could have sworn that the smile on Nora's faded a little, but the next second she acted as if nothing changed.

"Well, I suppose I might as well hear it now." Arabella said, not particularly happy, but not particularly sad either. "If you'll excuse me for a moment." With that, she followed Nora out of the dining room.

"Who's Ray?" Cagalli asked once Arabella disappeared.

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Elise replied, puzzled, as she pulled in another chair to the table. "He's her fiancée."

* * *

The end of the chapter...lol...am I being evil by doing this? lol...

Hopefully the gift part turned out okay...

And ugh...uploading not working too well...

Aren't you all wondering what's going to happen next? Lol...well, you're going to have to wait!


	11. Meeting the Enemy

A hundred reviews?! (stares in shock)

_mal- _Yes, I know it's evil to do that to Yzak, but it just had to be done...

_King Arthur 6687_and _witchesgirl- _How is Yzak going to take this news? Lol...we'll see...

_Lord Lance- _Yea, that does make sense, but the other side has some evidence too...so I really don't know...you should go talk to Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl...I would love to see who wins the argument! Lol...

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl-_ I already sent you an email, so you know what my response is...lol

Thanks also to _SeraphimEclipse, Sakura Kuonji, Jasmine-hime, Freedom Gundam, Miss Akira,_ _Anime Lover's Society, _and _Soi_. (That's everyone, right?)

Oh, and disclaimer goes here...lol

By the way, I think this chapter might me a bit shorter than the others. Just think about it as a filler chapter...(I was actually going to put ch.11 and 12 together, but something came up)

I still can't believe I got a hundred reviews...lol...I'm so happy!

* * *

Ch. 11: Meeting the Enemy

"Are you serious? You mean they actually attacked you face to face out in the open?" Elise asked, surprised.

The atmosphere in the room stayed tense. After hearing the little slip of information from Elise, the others didn't know what to make of it. She had a fiancée? This really put a dent in their plans. Cagalli, Lacus, and Miriallia started to whisper to each other, while Athrun, Kira, and Dearka just sat there looking uncomfortable. Yzak stayed quiet, although his eyes narrowed, and had a problem looking up. So obviously, the only one in a talkative mood happened to be Elise.

"Yes, they did." Arabella answered. She didn't understand just why the mood shifted ever since she returned, but she thought it best not to ask.

"They really are getting desperate, aren't they? I mean, sure, they tried to kill you before, but it was more of slipping poison, planting explosives, or at the most, using snipers, but up front? That hadn't happened since..."

"I don't think this is the time to discuss that." Arabella cut her off curtly, causing everyone to become suspicious.

"All right, all right, if you insist." Elise replied, finally getting the hint. "So, when did Ray say..."

"Talking about me?" All eyes turned towards the doorway, where a boy with blue-silver hair and amethyst eyes stood smirking.

Arabella got up to greet him. "I thought you said you'll come after dinner time." She looked at him quizzically.

"Well then, I guess I'm a bit early." He replied with a smile while handing her a bouquet of flowers. "So how has my dear princess been doing?"

"All right, I suppose." Arabella replied simply.

"Oh, and don't forget, I got you a present too." Ray showed her a little box. Arabella opened it, to find a platinum necklace with a sapphire setting, and a frame that shimmered like fairy wings.

"Thank you." She said courteously. "If I knew you were coming for Christmas, I would have gotten something for you too."

"No worries." Ray brushed it aside. "It's my fault for coming on such short notice anyways."

Everyone focused their attention on the two of them, that no one noticed the fiery gleam in Yzak's eyes. Realizing what he just did, he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Luckily, no one noticed. So that's the fiancée. But why did he even care in the first place?

"Hey, you okay there?" Dearka asked, finally realizing that Yzak didn't look so well.

"Are you alright?" Arabella suddenly shifted her attention towards him, looking concerned.

"I'm fine." Yzak snapped. "Just a minor headache. Nothing I can't deal with."

"Are you sure?" Arabella asked again, not quite believing him.

"Come on Bella, if the guy says he's alright, then he's alright." Ray stated, completely unaware of the glare that Yzak gave him.

"Well, if you're sure..."

"Well, well, princess, the company you keep has degraded even more so than before." All eyes turned towards the red-haired girl who approached them with her head held high.

"That's...that's the girl from..." Cagalli stammered.

"Nice to see you too Lucia." Arabella replied, trying her best to hold her sarcasm.

"So how many is it now?" Lucia asked, looking back and forth between Elise and Cagalli. "At least two, I suppose."

"That would be three." Arabella answered defiantly.

"Three?!" Lucia snorted, disgust apparent. "So what is it now? Three against seven? And then one..."

"Lucia, maybe you should tone it down a bit." Ray suggested, although for a slight moment he looked almost threatening. Yzak looked around. Did anyone else just catch that? No one else seemed to have noticed. Yzak looked at Arabella. Did she? He couldn't tell, because her face stayed unreadable. "Oh, and excuse us." Ray suddenly started again, smiling. "We forgot to introduce ourselves."

"Forget it." Lucia rolled her eyes as she started walking off. "I'm going to freshen up for dinner, so leave me out of this." With that, she disappeared.

"You really have to excuse my sister." Ray scratched his head, looking apologetic. "She can be quite rude sometimes."

"I'll say." Cagalli remarked.

"So, can you introduce yourselves?"

* * *

"Ah, yes, Lacus Clyne, the sensational songstress." Ray laughed as they sat down for dinner. "It's been awhile since you sang though, am I not correct?"

"Yes, I've been busy with some other things..." Lacus replied meekly.

"No need to go into details if you don't want." Ray shook his head out of courtesy, or maybe it had to do with the fact that Kira seemed to give him a very evil glare.

Regardless of Ray trying to liven things up, the dinner table still stayed tense. The usually loud Cagalli stayed silent, much to the surprise of everyone, and only occasionally did she whisper to Athrun, although she looked quite mischievous while doing so. Of course, she kept on flashing evil glares to Lucia, which Lucia gladly returned back. But in this situation Cagalli was not alone. Elise seemed to "accidentally" step on Lucia's foot one too many times, while Lucia "accidentally" spilled some juice on Elise. Even Miriallia, who usually didn't express dislike towards anyone, seemed to purposely ignore the general direction where Lucia sat. Dearka looked around, feeling a bit out of place, while Yzak merely watched Arabella and Ray, very closely.

"Well, we must be going now." Ray stated. A "finally we're getting out of here" look came on Lucia's face. And if they didn't know better, they would say that everyone else had a similar look on their face for a few seconds.

"Oh, already?" Arabella asked.

"Well, yes, I have some things to take care of first." Ray answered apologetically. "But I think I'll drop by in...let's say, two days. That is of course, if it's alright with you."

"It's fine."

"Well then, it was nice meeting all of you!" Ray smiled and left, followed by a disgruntled Lucia.

* * *

"Like I said before, she doesn't know." A maniacal laughter filled the dark room.

* * *

End of Chapter...like I said, this one's shorter than the other ones because I cut one chapter into two.

So how was it?

Yea, I didn't go into the characters' thoughts as much because I wanted to save that for the next chapter.

Oh, and the gift scene, I put it there so that the readers could compare between Ray's and Yzak's. See the differences? Lol...

I'll try to update soon!


	12. Setbacks and Inquiries

Yay! More reviews!

_yuugiri- _yea, it's pretty funny how Dearka answered Cagalli...oh, and by the way, your fic is really good too...

_mal- _I could just imagine Yzak fainting...that would be hilarious...lol. But I had to keep him in character...oh, and yes, he's going to have plenty of opportunities to get jealous...the war is on! Lol...

_witchesgirl- _Let's just say that Yzak's got a bit of competition...lol. But maybe this will encourage him to actually act...

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- _Yes, it would definitely suck is Yzak gets his heart broken...we'll see what happens.

_Prayer Reverie- _Yes, he should...the only problem being that he needs to figure out a way to get away with it...lol.

_King Arthur6687- _Oh, Lucia? I didn't mention her name before, but I did describe her. Look back at Ch. 6. That would freshen things up...Oh, and the last bit, you'll just have to wait and see! Lol...

_Miss Akira- _Yzak should so that he could gain an upper hand, but he's just too stubborn, isn't he? Lol...and yes, everyone has a reason to hate Lucia...hate her as much as you like...lol.

_Annie- _The person with the maniacal laughter, you ask? Well, I can't tell you that now, can't I? Lol...

Thanks also to _charice, Anime Lover's Society of the United States, Sakura Kuonji, x2015 doom gundam, _and _Soi_. (everyone...right?)

Disclaimer...blah blah..

* * *

.Ch. 12: Setbacks and Inquiries

"This is really messing up our plans!" Cagalli yelled, frustrated. The group sat in the lounge, waiting for Arabella, Yzak, and Elise to show up. Not to mention breakfast also.

"Maybe we should give up." Miriallia suggested. "If she already has a fiancée, isn't it rude for us to butt in?"

"Not really. After all, that didn't keep a certain former ZAFT pilot from keeping an eye out for other choices." Dearka smirked at Athrun.

"That...is a different issue..." Athrun retorted, slightly blushing. "The engagement was arranged, and besides, the other party seemed to be quite fine with the break up."

"I'll agree to that." Lacus stated, trying to reassure everyone.

"I was just joking..." Dearka grinned while shaking his head, due to the "why did you have to make the situation more complicated" look from Miriallia. "I just wanted to go over the possibilities. For all we know, she may not be happy with it, but just isn't showing it."

"That's a good point." Cagalli remarked, causing everyone, even Dearka, to be surprised that she actually agreed with him. "I mean if that's the case, we might even be doing her a favor."

"But how would we know if that's the case." Kira suddenly added. "I mean, it's not exactly something you could ask her directly to her face..."

"What are you all so intently talking about?" Everyone turned around to find a very puzzled Elise.

A mischievous smile came on Cagalli's face. "Elise, you've known Arabella for quite awhile, right?"

"Yes. We've been friends ever since we were born." She replied, not catching onto Cagalli's plan.

"Well, we were talking about how Ray made quite an entrance yesterday." Cagalli started, causing the others to nod their heads and follow along.

"Oh, yes. Ray is like that pretty often."

"Well, we were just wondering just where they stand in regards to each other." Cagalli slowly slipped it in.

"Well, where should I start?" Elise started to have a worried look on her face. Then she became resolved. "She doesn't love him."

The group had to try their best to not let out an obvious sigh of relief. "Then just exactly, what is the situation?"

"Well..." Elise looked back and forth uncomfortably, making sure at the same time that Arabella hadn't entered the room. "All right." She sighed. "I'll tell you, but don't say anything to Arabella about this, okay?"

"Of course." They replied, eager to hear anything.

"Well...their engagement is arranged." Elise started off. "As long as I can remember, it's been that way."

"So does that imply that Arabella's not too happy with the situation?" Cagalli asked, almost too excitedly.

"Hm...I don't know just how to explain this..." Elise tried to choose her words carefully. "It's not as if she hates him. They get along pretty well. It's just that they're more like friends. Even that might be a bit of a stretch, since they rarely get to see each other anyways."

"I see..." Cagalli commented trying not to sound too disappointed.

"So she's just going along with the whole scheme?" Lacus asked.

"Pretty much." Elise shrugged. "She's just going along with it. Not exactly happy with it, but not exactly sad either."

"Oh." Cagalli remarked, with a bit of hope. "Just hypothetically speaking, what would happen if someone that interested her happened to come along?"

"I could only hope." Elise sighed, surprising everyone with her response.

"Wait, you actually don't want Ray and Arabella together?" Cagalli exclaimed, a bit too happily.

"Well, I don't have anything against Ray personally. It's just everything else around him that I don't like."

"Lucia." They all said in unison.

"That's one of the main issues." Elise said, starting to look disgusted. "I mean, she's going to be one hell of a sister-in-law, and Arabella certainly doesn't deserve that." They all nodded in agreement. "The whole family's that way. If they're not part of the Purists, I don't know who would be. It's just too bad we don't have evidence at this point to prove it." Elise continued. "It's a miracle that Ray turned out half-way decent."

"Don't you think that's a bit suspicious?" Athrun added.

Elise shrugged. "That's what my grandmother thinks too. She doesn't really trust Ray. But I haven't noticed him acting differently, so I'm not going to judge him."

"And what's the other main issue?" Cagalli eagerly asked, deciding to get the info now and think about it later.

"I think this is the more important one." Elise said, looking grave. "I don't think she'll ever be happy this way." After a period of silence, she continued again. "She didn't have much of a childhood. Oh, I know, I'm sure none of you exactly had a normal life being involved in the war. But now, everyone's going for peace. You have a chance at a new life. Arabella doesn't. Even if she did, she would have to sacrifice it for something else." Elise added bitterly. She ignored the quizzical looks they were giving her about what those "something else" things would be, and continued on. "As a friend, I just want the best for her, you know. Sometimes I want something drastic to happen. Maybe a guy will show up and just sweep her off her feet." Elise laughed, despite herself. "Although I can't imagine that happening." She managed to put on a smile. "Well, I think that's all I could say for now, or Arabella would scold me for having a big mouth."

"Just one question." Miriallia spoke, surprising everyone. "Is it just me, or is the fact that Arabella is just 'going along" seem strange?" Silence filled the room.

"You know, you have a point." Cagalli remarked, getting quizzical. "I mean, what exactly bonds her to this so-called engagement? Is it her parents, perhaps? Which brings in another factor. I've never seen or heard of them before."

"Well, Arabella hasn't really been herself ever since..." Elise suddenly covered her mouth. After composing herself, she said flatly, "You didn't hear that from me."

Taken aback by Elise's sudden change in personality, the group merely nodded.

* * *

_(Yzak POV)_

I really didn't want to get up today.

It had nothing to do with not having enough sleep, or lacking energy. If only it were that simple. I didn't want to see anyone today. Of course, not that I ever enjoyed their company...okay, maybe a little bit. But today, I just dreaded it.

Why? To tell the truth, I couldn't pinpoint the exact answer. I think it might have to do with the fact that they're well...too happy. Always laughing, always up to some trick, always joking around...am I being jealous? No, I can't be. It's only because they're irritating, right? Right?

Shaking my head, I managed to get myself out of bed. Even though I wanted to do just the opposite, I disciplined myself to get up. After all, if I did otherwise, they would come looking for me. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them barged into my room to drag me out. I wouldn't put it past Zala's girlfriend, that's for sure. And of course, that would be _very _embarrassing.

"You're a mess." I scolded myself. And that comment was very true. My mask had started to slowly come off, all thanks to the group...and Arabella.

The last thought made me shake my head once again. I always became confused when it came to her. Okay, one thing I know for sure. To a certain degree I did respect her. Dearka would probably fall off a chair and would never let me live it down if he ever hears me say it. Yzak Jule never showed weakness. Never. But then again, I don't even know if I'm still the same Yzak.

I sighed, walking out the door. Why did I overreact when I saw her fiancée? After all, why should I even care? It's none of my business after all. I thought war was complicated. This is driving me insane.

"I really need to get a hold of myself." I said, when...

* * *

"Ouch!" Yzak rubbed his head. He really needed to pay attention when walking...the first thing he saw happened to be a pair of shiny cobalt eyes that looked down at him in concern.

"Are you alright?" Arabella asked. "I'm sorry, I guess I was paying too much attention to these papers and didn't see you coming."

"It's fine." Yzak replied a bit more irritatingly than he had wanted. After all, he didn't exactly pay attention either. Of course, no way would he admit that to her.

"So..." Arabella started, hesitantly.

"Uh..."

"Well..."

"By the way, are you feeling better today?" Arabella quickly asked.

Before Yzak could answer, a shout came from across the corridor. "Princess! We have urgent news!"

* * *

"Hey, what took you two so long..." Cagalli started to ask and then stopped, seeing the grave looks on Arabella and Yzak's faces. "What happened?"

"Apparently, Blue Cosmos carried out an attack on PLANT." Arabella started to explain. "Luckily no one got killed, but a lot of people were injured."

"Well, that's not too bad then, isn't it?" Cagalli managed to speak.

"In a sense yes." Arabella replied quietly. "But this is a political massacre."

"You...you don't mean..." Lacus stammered, hoping that Arabella wouldn't say the next couple words.

"All negotiations are suspended until further notice."

"I can't believe this!" Cagalli slammed her fist on the table. "The negotiations, although slowly, were finally getting underway, and now this..." Although the others weren't as expressive as Cagalli, it was evident that they weren't taking the news too well.

"If it ends this way, all the fighting we did, and all the lives sacrificed will be wasted..." Kira stared into an empty space.

"Well, at least the negotiations are _suspended_, not _canceled_. Maybe there's some hope yet." Lacus attempted to cheer everyone up, although she herself didn't look too happy.

"Unfortunately there isn't much we can do at this point." Arabella sighed. "But I thought that at least you should make a couple calls..."

"That's a great idea!" Cagalli shouted. "At least this way we could straighten out a couple things."

"I guess checking with ZAFT won't hurt." Dearka sighed.

"Well then, follow me."

* * *

"So there isn't much we could do at this point." Kisaka told Cagalli at the other end of the connection.

"All right. So I guess we just have to sit this out." Cagalli grumbled, definitely not happy with the way things went.

"Are you alright there by the way?" Kisaka suddenly asked. "We haven't heard of your whereabouts for quite awhile. It was definitely a relief to finally hear from you. Where are you anyways?"

"Icedale." Cagalli replied matter of fact. "It's pretty nice here actually..." Cagalli stopped as she saw the look on Kisaka's face.

"Icedale? How in the world..."

Cagalli's eyes suddenly glinted. "You know something, don't you? What's about this place that everyone's been trying to hide so much about? Tell me!"

Kisaka looked grave. "I actually don't know much. But even what I know I can't tell you. Just promise me one thing. Stay out of trouble." With that, Kisaka broke the link.

"Wait, Kisaka! Why won't you...ugh!" Cagalli yelled, frustrated. Fuming, she returned to the lounge, where the group, minus Arabella and Elise waited.

"Cagalli, what's wrong?" Athrun stood by her side the instant she entered the room. "What happened?"

"Kisaka acted weird." She replied. "There's something going on here that we're missing."

"I'll have to agree on that." Dearka remarked. "When I contacted ZAFT, the instant I told them where Yzak and I were, they just told us to stay here. Is it just me or is that strange? You would expect them to order the two of us to return immediately after that incident, but they did the exact opposite."

"That is strange." Miriallia added. "Although Kira and I are technically not really part of the Earth Alliance anymore, we still contacted them anyways. They basically had the same reaction."

Lacus also nodded in agreement. "Same with my case."

"Something's definitely happening, and I'm not just going to sit here. So are you with me or not?" Cagalli asked. All nodded in agreement. "Looks like we have two missions to carry out now." Cagalli murmured to herself. "Hopefully both will turn out well."

* * *

_(Arabella POV)_

If I could just say something.

I sighed, as I gazed out the balcony, feeling the fresh air sweep past me. But I can't. No matter how simple it sounds, there is no way I could do that. I don't want any more casualties. Mother, father, cousin, they're all gone. I attract death wherever I go. Don't want that to happen ever again. Never. I need to bear the burdens alone. To spare others from pain. I hurt enough people as it is.

Smiling, I thought about the group. They seemed so happy...and they deserved every bit of it. The war had been cruel. I doubt that they would ever fully recover from some of the trauma, but I just get the feeling that they will learn to move on. The peace that they strived for, they truly earned it. I can't let them fall back into worries again, or anyone else in a matter of fact. They deserved rest.

I guess Elise is the one that was affected the least out of all of us. Sometimes I envy her. Okay, she can get a bit annoying at times, but she just radiates a certain innocence. Not that she's completely naïve, but she seems so carefree. If only I could trade places with her...but here again I'm being selfish.

And there's Yzak...

I don't know just exactly where I stand with him. It's obvious that he wears a mask, that he's trying his best not to reveal himself. But then again, so do I, so I shouldn't be the one to talk. For some reason, I get an urge to help him. He seems like the only one that doesn't seem to be happy, and he really deserves to be. Maybe that's why. But I suppose I'll never find the exact answer.

I know something's amiss with the PLANT situation. Blue Cosmos attacking...something's a bit out of place. Some part is missing, and I need to find it. Also the way ZAFT reacted...someone's pulling some strings. I truly doubted that ZAFT would act like this on its own. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if they _speed up_ the negotiations in order to solidify a secure treaty to keep such things from happening again. The Purists are up to something. But what is it exactly that they're after? The decimation of all Naturals is an obvious guess, but there's something more. Something else that they want with it. What is it?

Even if it kills me I'll find out for the sake of others. For their peace, for their happiness.

* * *

Yay! Chapter done. Getting dark, isn't it? Hopefully I didn't mess up the story in the process...

Aw...poor Arabella, is it just me, or is she a bit too hard on herself?

In the next chapter, Ray and Lucia come visit again! (This is where the much-needed comic relief after this depressing chapter comes in play...lol...wait for it!)


	13. Relieving Interlude

Reviews, reviews...

_King Arthur6687-_ Oh, hee...Lucia will eventually get what she's coming to her...don't know about the "very soon" part though...lol

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- _Lucia getting bashed, Yzak getting jealous...such a good combination...lol.

_Prayer Reverie- _Don't worry, Yzak and Ray will have plenty of opportunities to clash at each other...lol

_Angel of Dreams- _Yes, there will be some Dearka and Milly interactions in this chapter.

_Annie, _and _Soi- _Bad feeling about Ray you say? Well...

_Miss Akira-_ Yes, she doesn't. Hopefully Yzak will take this opportunity...but you know how stubborn he can get at times...lol

Okay, on with the chapter...

* * *

Ch. 13: Relieving Interlude

"It's nice to see all of you again." Ray grinned as he and Lucia entered.

"Why does he always insist bringing her along?" Elise whispered to Arabella.

"No idea." Arabella replied back. "Maybe he feels bad about leaving her alone."

"I doubt it, she seemed to have a lot of friends the last time I saw her." Cagalli, who happened to sit by the other two girls, heard the conversation and retorted.

"What are you three whispering about?" Ray asked, curious.

"Nothing much. Just girl talk." Arabella replied, knowing that that was the only foolproof phrase that would keep Ray from trying to find out more.

"Okay, anyways, so what have you people planned for today?" Lucia asked haughtily, taking a sit on a chair, uninvited.

"Is it possible for a person to be so disagreeable all the time?" Lacus whispered to Kira. Kira opened his eyes, surprised that the usually mild mannered Lacus managed to criticize someone.

Once he shook the shock off, he merely shrugged. "Some people just can't help themselves from being prejudiced and headstrong."

"While some people can't help but be sweet." She said back to him, smiling. Kira couldn't help but blush.

"Ahem." Lucia coughed, earning irritated glares from everyone.

"Well, what did you have in mind, Lucia?" Arabella asked, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.

"Like I would know. Last time I checked this was your country." Lucia replied disdainfully.

"I know! How about a picnic?" Cagalli burst out loud, trying to save Arabella from Lucia's biting words.

"A picnic?" Lucia laughed mockingly. "Is that the best you could come up with? It's still the middle of winter you know. Of course, I shouldn't have expected anything better from a..."

"A picnic seems like a good idea." Arabella retorted back, feeling that it was her turn to defend Cagalli. "The weather's pretty nice today. It almost feels like it's the middle of spring."

"Then a picnic it is." Ray concluded before the argument got out of hand.

"Great. I'll go and have things prepared." Arabella said as she went on her way.

"We'll go help too." The girls, all except Lucia, replied.

"I get the feeling that Arabella might need help." Ray remarked and followed, ignoring the obvious death glares coming from Yzak. Soon, the room consisted only of Athrun, Kira, Dearka, Yzak, and oh joy, Lucia. The guys tried their best to ignore Lucia, but unfortunately that would not happen. At least as long as Lucia had anything to say about it.

"Well I'm glad that they're gone." Lucia laughed. "They were annoying me."

"And you're annoying us." The guys wanted to reply back.

"So...you're the boyfriend of that blond Natural girl, right?" Lucia addressed Athrun. "Don't you find it that she's a bit clumsy? Wouldn't you like someone more graceful? I have a friend..."

"Cagalli is perfect the way she is." Athrun answered back coldly.

"Well...if that's the case..." Lucia stammered, taken aback. Then she turned her attention towards Dearka. "Is it just me or are you trying to catch the attention of the brown haired one? I think you're wasting your time..."

"I would like it if you didn't pry into my business." He replied dryly. "And as for Miriallia, I don't see anything wrong with her, if that's what you're trying to get at."

"Well, alright..." Lucia murmured, starting to lose her confidence. "Um...Kira, right? At least you have the right mindset."

"I could care less whether Lacus is a Natural or a Coordinator." Kira flatly declared, causing the other guys to stare, for they never though Kira had it in him. "I like her because she's sweet, sensible, and understanding, not because of the way she's born."

"Right..." Lucia looked around, trying to find someone to defend her. Seeing Yzak, she put on a fake smile. "Well, seeing that you have no one to occupy you, unlike them, I get the feeling that you understand, don't you?"

"What makes you say that?" Yzak retorted, putting on a smirk.

"I mean, there's no one left except Arabella and Elise." Lucia laughed. "I'm sure you don't really even know Elise, so she's out, and Arabella's out of the picture because she's engaged to my brother." Yzak stayed silent because he couldn't figure out a way to argue. "Besides," Lucia continued, "even if she and my brother weren't engaged, I doubt you would be interested in her."

"How is it that you're so sure?" Yzak asked, trying to not flare up in anger.

"Because of what she is."

That did it for Yzak. He stood up from his chair, and dangerously approached Lucia. Lucia had to try her best not to flee in fear. "I'm sick and tired of people playing games with me." Yzak started. "Explain that to me. Now!" Yzak expected her to still have fear in her eyes. Instead, she now seemed amused.

"Oh, you don't know?" She laughed maniacally. "She didn't tell you? Of course, I'm not that surprised...I would be ashamed of it too."

"You know, I don't hit woman...but you just might tempt me to do so." Yzak threatened.

"Oh, alright. You just had to ruin the mood, didn't you?" Lucia pouted. "She's a half-breed."

"W...What?!!" Dearka spit out his coffee, Athrun and Kira had their eyes open-wide, and Yzak slightly drew back.

"She had a Coordinator father and a Natural mother." Lucia continued. "Of course, it would have been bad enough if she were a full Natural, but tainting blood like that..."

"Okay, first of all." Kira managed to be the first one to speak. "What gives you the right to refer to a person as a 'breed' as if some animal..."

"Lucia." Kira stopped for a moment, and all eyes turned towards the voice. "I think we might need some help here." Ray suggested.

"Oh, all right." Lucia replied, sulkily. "I was just starting to have fun." With that, she left, not even taking a glance back.

"And I thought Yzak had problems." Dearka commented as soon as Lucia was out of earshot. Yzak, who would have usually reacted to something like that, stayed silent.

"That was a bit hard to take in." Athrun commented. "Well...let's just go find the girls." Wordlessly, they agreed.

* * *

"Hm...let's see, basketball, frisbee, such and such..." Cagalli murmured as she gathered all the equipment.

"Need any help there?"

Cagalli looked up to see a smiling Athrun and Kira. "Oh hey there." She replied, wiping sweat off her forehead. "Sure, I could do with some help. By the way Kira, Lacus went that way to get some blankets." Cagalli pointed. The next instant Kira disappeared. "Those two." Cagalli laughed.

"At least they're progressing." Athrun smirked. "Who knows, maybe he'll ask her officially sooner than we expected."

"One could only hope." Cagalli smirked back. She then dumped a lot of objects on Athrun.

"Is it really necessary to take all these things?" Athrun struggled against the weight.

"Why not?" Cagalli shrugged. "By the way, did Lucia say anything after we left?"

"Just the usual." Athrun replied.

"You _did _defend me, right?" Cagalli glared at him.

"Of course, of course." Athrun sweat-dropped.

"I knew I could count on you." Cagalli kissed him on the cheek, causing Athrun to blush madly and drop everything on the floor.

* * *

Miriallia stopped. It felt eerie, as if someone...

"So what you up to?"

"Dearka Elthman, don't you dare scare me like that!" Miriallia threatened pointing at him with a knife she had been holding.

"Whoa, let's not get too aggressive." Dearka drew back, mockingly.

Miriallia sighed. "So what are you doing here?"

Dearka shrugged. "Just looking around. Why? Do you need help?"

"As in a matter of fact, I do." She said, handing him the knife and pointed towards the tomatoes. "I need those cut."

"Um...alright..." Dearka stammered, getting nervous. "So I cut it, like this?"

"No...you can't do that, you need to cut it sideways." Miriallia replied, giggling. "You've never worked in a kitchen before, right?"

"Well...that is...yea..." He murmured, embarrassed.

"It's all right. Here, let me show you." With that, Miriallia grabbed his hands, and guided him. "First make sure that you're holding the object firmly, otherwise you might accidentally slice a finger..." Dearka didn't really pay attention to her words. He was too busy paying attention to her hand on top of his. "Hello, Dearka, are you listening?"

"Huh? Oh yea..." He managed to get out of the trance.

"Think you can do it yourself now?"

"Um...right...sure..."

"Alright then."

Thanks to some miracle, Dearka managed to do a decent job. Once done, he watched Miriallia put together the other sandwiches. "Just out of curiosity, why are you the one making the food? What about the cooks?"

"Well..." Miriallia started to explain, getting a bit embarrassed. "You might think it's a bit of a silly reason, but asked them to let me make the food myself. It's been such a long time since I went on a picnic..."

"I don't think that's silly at all." Dearka answered.

"You think so?" Her eyes brightened. "Well, that's good."

"Come on." Dearka gestured, picking up the baskets. "The others are probably waiting.

* * *

"It's such a nice day today!" Cagalli remarked as they walked across the park, trying to find a good spot.

"The only thing we need is to get rid of Lucia." Elise murmured. Cagalli nodded in agreement. The lineup was as follows: Lucia in the front (since she insisted that she knew the perfect spot), Kira and Lacus, Ray, Arabella, and Yzak (who keep a very close eye on the two of them), Elise, then Athrun and Cagalli (who were struggling with all the items), and finally Dearka and Miriallia with the food.

"This wasn't such a bad idea." Cagalli told Athrun. "The bags seem to get lighter and lighter.

"Um, Cagalli..."Athrun sweat-dropped, after figuring out why. "I think one of the bags has a hole in it."

"What?!!" Cagalli yelled. "We need to get all the stuff back."

"Hey, what the..." As if on cue, they heard something crash. Dearka, who had insisted that he carry the baskets for Miriallia, obviously couldn't see very well over the pile, and had tripped over the random items dropped by Cagalli and Athrun. "Who put that basketball there? I have half a mind to kill..." Then he saw Miriallia hovering over him with a concerned look on her face. "On second thought..."

"Are you alright?" She asked. "That looked like it would really hurt."

"I'm fine." He replied with a goofy grin on his face, although it felt as if he just twisted his ankle.

"You sure? Here, I'll carry the baskets from now on." Miriallia suggested.

"No, no, it's fine." Dearka replied.

"Sorry about that you two." Cagalli yelled, as they came towards them, picking up the fallen items in the process.

"It's alright." Dearka waved it aside. "In fact, maybe I should be thanking you two."

"Huh?" Cagalli and Athrun responded, puzzled.

Before Dearka could respond, a yell came from the front. "What's taking you people so long?" Lucia criticized. Then seeing who trailed behind, her mouth curled into a sneer. "Oh, of course, it's always the Naturals that lag behind."

"You know what, just shut up!" Elise shouted, no longer having the patience to deal with Lucia. "What is with you and always making remarks about non-Coordinators? It gets kind of old after awhile, you know!"

"Calm down you two." Arabella interceded before the situation turned into an all out catfight. "Let's just try to enjoy ourselves today. Especially with all the problems coming up, we're going to need it." She added as an afterthought. The two girls stepped away from each other, but that didn't stop either of them from continuous murmuring.

"I have to hand it to Arabella though. She knows how to keep order." Dearka remarked, causing those within hearing range to nod.

* * *

Finally, after finding a spot that Lucia became satisfied with, the group sat down, and dug into the food. "Hey Miriallia, this is pretty good." Cagalli remarked as she gobbled up her third sandwich.

"Thanks." Miriallia blushed, and then looked towards Dearka. "I had some help."

They continued to eat until all the food disappeared. "Well I'm happy." Cagalli remarked. "Now for something fun to do." With that she took something out of a bag.

"A kite?" Everyone sweat-dropped.

"Well, I never flew one before." Cagalli explained. "Athrun, could you please come with me?" She asked him sweetly, even daring to use puppy eyes.

"Oh...all right." Athrun answered, obviously not able to resist.

"There goes those two." Dearka commented, watching them leave.

"What else did you expect?" Kira asked with a smirk.

"Figures." Dearka replied, taking a last bite. "Say Yamato, how about a game of basketball?"

"Are you sure you're up to it? I mean you tripped over one awhile ago." Kira mocked jokingly.

"Think I can't handle it? Well then I'll prove it to you." With that, Dearka all but dragged Kira to the nearest basketball court.

"Let's see what happens." Lacus and Miriallia giggled and went after the boys.

Now only Arabella, Elise, Yzak, Ray and Lucia occupied the original spot. "Hey, how about a game of tennis?" Ray suggested, taking out a couple racquets from a bag.

"Count me out, you know I can't play." Elise replied while giving Lucia a glare to shut her up from making any derogatory comments.

"Sure, I'm in." Arabella replied.

Although Yzak never really played before, he wasn't about to let Arabella and Ray alone. "All right."

Lucia sighed. "Well, since that makes things uneven, I guess I have to play." She replied in a condescending tone.

"I wouldn't act so tough Lucia, I know that Arabella can beat you anytime." Ray joked. He only got a snort in reply.

So the four went on their way, and found out that only one court was available. "I guess we'll have to play doubles then." Arabella concluded simply.

"Well then Arabella and I could be partners..." Ray suggested as he pulled her closer to him.

"No, wait a minute, I'm the beginner here. I need someone who plays well." Yzak retorted, pulling Arabella back towards him.

"I never said I was very good either." Ray replied, pulling Arabella again, although slightly more protective this time.

"Well, at least you seemed to have had some practice before." Yzak growled, while pulling Arabella back with equal strength. Sparks flew from each boy's eyes, and Arabella looked back and forth, not knowing what to do.

"Arabella, just go with my brother." Lucia snapped while harshly pushing her towards Ray. "I'll help Yzak." She added with an evil smile. Before Yzak could protest, Lucia dragged him all the way to the other side of the court. "Sorry if you got a wrong impression of me in the beginning." She put on her fake smile again. "But I'm really nicer than I seem you know."

"Right..." Yzak replied sarcastically, which Lucia didn't catch. "Let's focus on the game." The game, however, didn't go too well for Yzak and Lucia, for Yzak was too distracted watching Ray and Arabella, while Lucia continuously tried to start a conversation with him.

"Oh come on Lucia, you really weren't trying very hard, were you?" Ray laughed as they headed towards the original spot again.

"As if I wanted to, playing with amateurs like yourselves." Lucia retorted back. "Although, Yzak wasn't too bad."

"So, I take it that you two got along well?" Arabella asked, a bit surprised.

"Of course." Lucia said, suddenly clinging to Yzak's arm.

"Uh...yea..." Yzak stammered, disengaging himself from Lucia the next instant.

"That's nice." Ray smiled. By the time they reached the spot, everyone else had already arrived.

"It was so fun!" Cagalli exclaimed. "Well, except for the time the kite got stuck on a tree and Athrun had to climb it to get the kite out. He almost fell off, but he didn't, so that's all that matters." She finished while taking a quick glance at the very tired looking Athrun.

Lacus giggled. "Kira won."

"It was a close game though." Miriallia added, surprising everyone, and even herself that she defended Dearka.

"That's what happens when you challenge an ultimate Coordinator." Kira managed to say a joke.

"Looks like Kira isn't so sad and depressed anymore." Everyone laughed.

Ray checked his watch. "I got to go now Arabella." He informed her apologetically.

"When's the next time you're going to visit?" She asked.

"Well..." Ray scratched his head. "I'm pretty busy...so I guess not until the New Year's Eve Ball."

"That's fine."

"Okay then, see all of you around." With that Ray left, followed by Lucia, who didn't even bother to say good-bye except to cast a look back at Yzak.

"So, the rest of you want to head back too?" Arabella asked.

"Well..." The guys stammered, trying to figure out what the girls wanted to do.

"Why not...Athrun looks tired out." Cagalli said, guiltily. "I think I made him run around too much."

"And you two look tired too." Lacus and Miriallia said to Kira and Dearka.

"I guess we're going back then."

* * *

"Hey, so did you guys have fun?" Athrun asked after they came back. Everyone except Arabella and Elise occupied the room.

"Definitely." Dearka replied. "It's been awhile since I was able to be so carefree."

"You're always carefree." Yzak retorted, although this time with a bit of amusement.

"You know, I know history books will probably have a lot of our exploits during the war recorded, and call them important, but today would be more important to me than some of those times." Kira commented. They all nodded their heads.

"Speaking of history books..." Cagalli's eyes suddenly brightened. "Oh my goodness...I remember something! Come on!" Confused, the rest of the group just followed.

* * *

Yay! End of chapter! (wait, is that actually a good thing? Lol...)

Don't we all hate Lucia now?

And did you see the tension between Ray and Yzak? Lol...there's going to be a lot more of that...

Next chapter you'll find out just what Cagalli remembered, and also the plans that they make...wait for it!

Oh, and thanks for reading!


	14. Realization and More Scheming

Replies, replies...

_King Arthur6687- _Yes, it's a really good thing that the guys stood up for the girls...and of course, Cagalli's always up to something...lol.

_mal- _Yes she does. Isn't that annoying?

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl-_ Sent you an email, you know what I wanted to say. XD

Chibi Fyrefly- Sent you an email too...  
  
Angel of Dreams- What are Ray's feelings? Hm...you'll see...

Thank you also to _Miss Akira _and _Soi_

By the way, those of you that didn't receive emails, don't feel bad. I'm not trying to favor anyone, it's just that they asked certain questions or made certain comments that required a very lengthy response, and it would just take too much room if I posted it with the chapter.

Anyways, on with the chapter!

* * *

Ch. 14: Realization and More Scheming

"Cagalli, why are we sneaking around?" Athrun asked.

"You'll see." Cagalli answered, confusing the others even more. She looked back and forth until she spotted one of the maids dusting. "Um...excuse me..." Cagalli approached the maid.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" The maid asked, although she seemed a bit started that Cagalli addressed her.

"Well, we're looking for a library...one that's accessible that is." Cagalli added at the last minute.

"Which one?"

"Which...one?" Cagalli stammered, taken by surprise. "You mean there's more than one that we're allowed in?"

"Sure." The maid replied cheerfully. "Most rulers of Icedale so far seemed to have taken a liking to collecting books, or other sources of data. Although most of them are restricted, there are still a lot selections that are you take us to one that has a lot of history books? Especially about Orb?" Cagalli asked.

"I'm not quite sure about where specific ones about Orb are, but I'll take you to the one that has the most history books." With that, the maid led them up to the third floor, and pointed at a set of double doors at the end of the north wing.

"Thank you." Cagalli said, as the maid went on her way.

"Why did you ask a random maid where the library was when Arabella or even Elise could have narrowed it down for us even more?" Dearka asked, skeptical.

"Do you honestly think Arabella or Elise will let us find out about anything?" Cagalli retorted.

"Good point." Dearka grudgingly admitted.

"Besides, they would probably get suspicious." Lacus added.

"Well, what are we doing just standing here? Let's get on with it." Yzak stated irritably.

"All right, all right." With that, the group entered the library.

"How am I going to find that book when this place is so big?" Cagalli remarked in frustration.

"Well, at least it's not as big as the one we accidentally stumbled in to." Lacus stated, trying to make things seem better.

"There's a computer there." Kira pointed. "Maybe it will help us search." Sure enough, the computer listed all the books in the library and where each was located.

"Come on, come on, it has to be here..." Cagalli murmured as she scrolled down the list of books. "Yes! It's here!" With that, she ran towards the location.

"Section D, row 24..."

"Just out of curiosity, why did you suddenly become interested in finding a history book on Orb?" Kira asked, right behind her.

"Column 12...You'll see." Cagalli mumbled as she picked out the book and headed towards the table where everyone else currently occupied. "Hm...let's see...was it in Ch.20, or was it in Ch.22...oh, it's in Ch. 25." She declared triumphantly. "Read." The others hunched over, and started reading from the place that Cagalli pointed out.

_The nation of Orb happens to be one of the few countries left on earth that still manages to hold onto the declaration of neutrality..._

"Yea, right." Dearka snorted. "That's why they made those mobile suits..." All eyes turned towards him, glaring.

"This isn't the time for this." Kira stated before things turned ugly. "So Cagalli what exactly was it that you wanted to show us?"

"Keep reading." Cagalli said gruffly.

..._but there are others as well that keep such policies. Icedale, a quick reference to one of such places, on the other hand, seems to have it's own set of neutrality policies that seem to enforce both extremes. This goes on to show that neutrality has no one definite meaning..._

Everyone except Cagalli blinked twice. "What the heck is that suppose to mean?" Dearka shouted.

"No idea. That's why I wanted all of you to read it too. I thought one of us could figure it out." Cagalli explained.

"History books have a weird way of stating things." Athrun remarked. "This one's too vague. Maybe that's why this one's not part of the restricted selections."

"How did you manage to come across this anyways?" Miriallia asked.

"Father used to force me to read books on Orb." Cagalli sighed. "Maybe if I had listened to him more, I would have been more useful..."

"Don't me so hard on yourself Cagalli." Kira insisted.

"Not everyone can be perfect." Lacus added.

"Sometimes it's better to let go." Miriallia suggested.

"Besides, there are people around you that are willing to support you all the way. It's just that you have to trust in them and take action when necessary." Athrun added last, giving her a reassuring smile.

"You know, this shows that sometimes the hardest advice to follow is our own." Yzak added. Silence followed.

"I guess you're right..."

"Ouch!" All attention turned towards the noise.

"Elise?" The group looked down incredulously at the girl who started to pick up the books she dropped.

"Oh...hi...what are you doing here?" She stammered nervously.

"Just catching up on some reading." Cagalli replied. "What are _you _doing here?"

"Well...same here I guess..." Elise muttered, slowly backing away.

"Hey, wait a minute! Are those history books I see?" Athrun questioned.

"Well...yes, so they are." Elise admitted, not knowing what else to say.

Cagalli's smile suddenly grew very wide. "Looks like we're looking for the same things."

"And just what would that be?" Elise challenged.

"Any information about Arabella or Icedale." Cagalli stated flatly.

Elise sighed. "You want to share information, don't you?"

"You got it."

Elise approached them, and starting putting the books in neat little stacks. Then she eyed them closely. "Fine. I'll team up with you. But I want to be part of whatever it is you're planning." Then she eyed Yzak. "All of it."

Cagalli considered it for a moment. Then a wicked smile came on her face. "All right then." Then she turned to Yzak. "Could you go outside and make sure no one comes and hears anything?"

"Huh?" Yzak remarked. "Why me?"

"Just because!" Cagalli yelled, her temper starting to get the better of her again.

"Fine." Yzak stalked off. "If you didn't want me to hear whatever it is that you're going to say, you should have just stated it straight off." With that he shut the door.

"Wasn't that a bit too harsh?" Lacus commented.

Cagalli shrugged. "Maybe, but we had to get rid of him."

"So what is it that you want to know from me?" Elise brought them back to the topic at hand.

"First of all, I want to know why is it that the best friend of Arabella needs to sneak around to find information." Athrun asked before anyone else.

"Just because I'm the best friend of the ruler doesn't mean I know everything." Elise stated. "At least not in this country..." She added, murmuring. "This place is filled with so many secrets that sometimes it drives me crazy. But often times I get the feeling that I would be far more shocked knowing the truth. Still, for some reason, I try to find out the answers. I honestly don't know."

"I see what you mean." All eyes turned towards Miriallia, surprised that she said something. She smiled. "Since we asked you that question, I'm sure you're going to ask us something similar. I don't think I'm speaking for everyone here, but I'll just go ahead." She slightly blushed at her boldness, but continued anyways. "I don't know why exactly I'm so curious about what's going on. To tell you the truth, I have my own problems to deal with, and I'm sure everyone else has something like that too. But for some reason I'm drawn to finding out more about this place and Arabella. Maybe it has to do with the secretive atmosphere that surrounds both of them, or maybe it's because I want to get away from my own problems and focus on something that I'm not very familiar with. I just don't know."

"Helping others and at the same time helping oneself." Elise smiled meekly. "I see."

"You know, when we first saw you, you seemed like the cheery, naïve type that would prance around everywhere. But now, that's very doubtful." Cagalli commented.

"Oh, don't think that yet." Elise contradicted. "I am pretty much like that. It's just that when I came, and I saw Arabella happy..._actually_ happy, mind you, that's really hard to see...something came over me. Anyways..." Elise swiftly changed the subject. "You also need to let me in on _that _project." She eyed the direction that Yzak stalked off.

"Oh...that..." Cagalli couldn't help but laugh. "So you noticed. Well, what do you think of it?"

"I'm definitely not going to disagree." Elise sat up straight. "But I'm going to have to give some more details."

"Like the fact that Arabella's a Sub-Coordinator?"

Elise accidentally knocked over one of the stacks of books. Her eyes grew wide. "Who told you that?"

"Lucia."

"Figures." She sighed. "Lucia always had too big of a mouth for her own good."

"Not to mention too inflated a head." Cagalli added.

"True, very true."

"I don't get it." Dearka suddenly interrupted. "Is it really that much of a big deal that she's mixed? Especially in a neutral country?"

Elise's eyes narrowed, almost in disdain. "You really don't understand, do you?" She sounded exasperated. "All right then, I'll try to make it clear for you. Sit. This may take awhile." Obeying, the others grabbed the nearest chair and sat. "Look, it's no secret that there will always be some tensions between Naturals and Coordinators, even with the war over. Am I right?" They nodded their heads. "Arabella is unique in that she has both attributes. She gets the good attributes of both. But she also gets the hatred received by both. A blessing and a curse. Get it? But most people, especially when there's crisis, like to focus on the bad rather than the good. So the blessing gets canceled and the curse becomes worse." Elise shook her head. "I don't know if any of this is making any sense to you but let me try to make it simpler. Arabella has very little to turn to. She receives hatred from both sides because she's neither one nor the other. And surprisingly, in a lot of ways, a neutral country is a worse setting because both sides are present."

The group just nodded their heads. After all, what could they say to something like that? "Anyways, back to what I was going to say before we got into that topic."

"What were you going to say?"

"There are a lot of things actually, but we'll come to them eventually as things go underway. First off, Arabella is not very comfortable around the opposite gender."

"Huh?" Everyone asked, not expecting something like that.

"I know, I know. No one really notices that." Elise started to explain. "But it's there. She just hides it really well."

"What makes you so sure?" Cagalli challenged.

Elise took a deep breath. "Arabella is really going to kill me if she ever finds out that I told anyone all this, but since I started it, I might as well finish it. All right, listen closely because I'm not going to repeat this, EVER again."

"All right, we're listening." They huddled together eagerly.

"I remember when we were about nine or ten, I was sitting in the main parlor, waiting for her to show up. Then suddenly, I heard shouts and screams and saw my grandmother rushing somewhere. Naturally, curiosity got the better of me, so I followed. What I saw still scares me. The first thing I saw was Bella, looking extremely pale, her clothes torn, blood smeared all over (hers or someone else's I still don't know). But what scared me most were her eyes. They were blank. No anger, no remorse, not even a hint of apathy. They were just...blank."

"So then what happened?" Cagalli asked, perhaps a bit too eagerly, that people couldn't help but give her a look.

"Well, within the week, she was crowned the new ruler of Icedale, since both her parents passed away, and me and others (because back then, this place had more people in it, and Bella had a lot more friends) were sent off far away, mostly to different countries. Luckily, since my grandmother still stayed here, I got to visit, although not as often as I would have wanted to. But Bella was always quiet, not bothering to speak unless absolutely necessary. And she alienated people. She didn't feel comfortable with anyone. Especially the opposite gender."

"Do you think that...well...maybe what happened was..." Lacus stammered, not knowing just how to put it delicately.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't that." Elise corrected. "But she might have seen, and or have experienced something just as terrible. No one really knows. Arabella never spoke about it. And the only one who knows about it is her and the bastards that did this to her." She added bitterly.

"Wait, she became the new ruler when she was only...how old was she? Nine or ten? Is that even possible? Why didn't someone else take over for her?" Dearka asked, incredulous.

"I thought that you would understand by now." Elise sighed. "Look, she took the position not necessarily because she wanted to, but because she had to keep the country from going into total chaos."

"Huh?"

"Look, she's the last of the royal lineage. If she abdicated, she would have to give the position to someone, right? And in the Icedale constitution, when a ruler abdicates, he or she has to name the successor. Now do you see where this is going?"

Cagalli nodded, understanding. "If she picks a Natural, everyone in the Coordinator faction will retaliate."

"And if she picks a Coordinator, the Naturals will retaliate." Athrun finished.

"So basically a civil war then." Dearka concluded.

Elise nodded her head. "Exactly."

Everyone stayed silent, fidgeting. None of them had any idea just where to go from there. "Anyways, what do you plan to do now with the Yzak and Arabella situation?" Elise spoke up first, lightly, trying to break the tension.

"Well...I have an idea." Cagalli suggested. "Supposedly there's going to be a New Year's Eve Ball, right?"

"As always."

"So then Arabella won't be seeing Ray until then, so why don't we try to make the two of them get to know each other better before then?" Cagalli's eyes suddenly twinkled. "In fact, I have a plan..."

"I have a plan too." Lacus added.

"And so do I." Miriallia stated.

"Well then..." Elise concluded. "Why don't we try them all?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, why not, we have three days, and three plans. It seems simple to me." Elise explained.

"Sounds good." Cagalli remarked. "This way, maybe we could get two things done at the same time. While one group distracts Arabella, the others can do some research."

Elise smiled. "You and I work very well together."

"Likewise."

"Hey, are you people done there?" Yzak poked his head inside.

* * *

(_next day)_

"Well, I wish you two luck Cagalli and Athrun, since you two are going first." Elise smiled.

"Don't worry about us, just do your parts." With that, the two disappeared.

"Well Kira, lets go and do some research." With that, Kira and Lacus went off on their own.

"Hey...what about us..." Miriallia protested, but by then they were gone.

"I think you should leave those two alone." Elise suggested.

"But what about..."

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything will be taken care of." Elise reassured her.

"So what do we do now?" Miriallia glanced back and forth between Dearka, Elise, and herself.

"Well why don't you two go and enjoy yourselves?" Elise suggested. "I mean, you can't possibly think only about Arabella all the time. I'm sure you have enough things to deal with on your own. Just like you mentioned before." Elise added.

"What about you?"

"Well, I'm just going to sit here and see how everything goes." Elise smiled, amused.

"Well, alright then...but that doesn't mean that my problems necessarily have to do with Dearka or anything." Miriallia stated quickly, perhaps too quickly. "I'm just going to let him tag along because I'll probably be bored by myself."

"Sure. I never meant anything by it." Elise gave them an innocent look.

* * *

_(Elise POV)_

I watched the last two leave.

Smiling, I relaxed, getting comfortable on the soft cushions and pillows of the sofa. Then I grabbed a cup of tea with my right hand, and a novel with the other. This was going to turn out very interesting. Sure, this was mainly about helping Bella, but that didn't mean no side effects would occur...

Good things come in pairs. When we help others, sometimes we accidentally get something good back in return. I can't help but smile at the different couples. How true it is.

* * *

Chapter done...

Yes, a lot of angst. This chapter has more dialogue and thoughts than actions. It just turned out that way I guess...

Hm...I don't know...I'm seriously starting to worry about this story now...maybe it's not turning out so well...I don't know...(maybe it's just cause I've been in a bit of a depressed mood this week that I'm thinking that...) Maybe my writing's starting to get messed up? I don't know...

But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing or anything. Just need to try harder, that's all.

So how was this chapter?

I really appreciate reviews (yes, even criticism) anything's fine.

Next chapter we'll see just what Cagalli's scheme is, and also a little scene with Kira and Lacus, and also what Dearka and Milly are up to too...

Oh, and of course, thanks always goes to all the readers out there.


	15. Nowhere Else To Go

Hi! Oh, about that little note from the previous chapter scratches head I guess my mood got the better of me XD. It's just that the week was completely hectic with packing and everything (cause I moved into the dorms for the first time on saturday...go college! Lol...) And the transition stage was well...you get the point.

Ok, that's more than enough about me, and on to the replies:

_izumi-17- _Hi! It's nice to know that there's a new reader! Oh, and yes, Arabella does know who Cagalli is (look back at end of Ch.2). And so does Lucia. Remember the part in Ch. 11 when Ray was talking to Lacus? Although technically Lucia walked off in the beginning, she was present when that conversation was going on. So it is sort of implied that Lucia knows who Cagalli is also, for Ray would have said something about Cagalli too if he is saying something about Lacus. And Orb? It's probably recovering due to the aftermath of the war. And since Cagalli is at the current setting, the other person that's taking care of things would be Kisaka. (one of the reasons why she contacts him in Ch. 12, other than the fact that he's her friend and guardian). Well, that's it for now. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask!

_King Arthur6687- _Thanks for encouraging me! Like I said before, depression mode must have really gotten the better of me...XD

_DreamAnimeKitten- _What about ch.14? lol...sorry, couldn't resist...Oh and don't worry, read them in any pace you want. As long as you read them, it's fine. )

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- _Here comes the constructive criticism...lol. No but seriously, I need some of that. And yes, it does seem like I'm focusing on Arabella a bit too much. I've been taking that into account ever since _Chibi Fyrefly _mentioned it. (I actually sent her an email dealing with that, but I don't think it's 100 applicable to your comment, so I won't bother posting it here). And I did consider the whole Dearka and Miriallia thing before, but Tolle gets in the way...Well, I'll just go along the way I had initially planned with couple changes...that should be fine for now. And I really appreciate how you like Arabella's background...I sometimes get the feeling that people overlook it too often...and Yzak? Lol...yes, he was definitely a bit OOC, but I had a hard time figuring out a way for him to be there and be away at the same time...you get what I mean, right? XD And of course, thanks for reading as always!

_Angel of Dreams- _What does Ray think you say? Well, can't tell you that now without ruining the story! )

_Annie- _Yes, that was freaky.

_mal- _Hm...interesting question...cause I don't know. She's still half natural after all...and oh, she doesn't have all Coordinator abilities. She's missing one vital one, but it's actually not that noticeable at first (it's going to mess her up later on though). Maybe you can figure it out? Lol...

_cherri-chan- _As much as I would love to have that happening, I have some other plans for Cagalli (which is probably just as evil as the one you suggested). But thanks anyways for the suggestion!

Thanks also to _Miss Akira, ShinobiWolf, alex, _and _Shadowsin! _

Now I must go on and write the chapter before the other readers get mad at me for taking too much of their time with the responses! XD

* * *

**Ch. 15: Nowhere Else To Go**

"You want me to do what?" Yzak stared at Athrun in disbelief. "There is no way...let him deal with it."

"Well, at this point, he's going to need some help." Athrun looked smug. "But if you're so unwilling to help, I guess I'll just get Kira to help out. He'll probably do a better job anyways." With that, Athrun pretended to leave.

"What was that, Zala? Are you implying that I'm useless?" Yzak growled, glaring at Athrun.

"I didn't imply anything." Athrun shrugged, although the glint in his eyes told otherwise.

"That's it, I'm going to prove it to you once and for all!"

"So you're going to help?" Athrun had to put a lot of effort to keep a straight face.

"What do you think?"

* * *

"So Arabella, think you can help me?" Cagalli asked.

"What is it exactly that you need me to do?" Arabella asked, curious.

"Well, Dearka and Miriallia got into a bit of an argument this morning, and well, they disappeared somewhere. We want to help them patch things up, but we need to find them first."

"Oh, ok." Arabella replied, smiling. "Where do you want to look first?"

* * *

"I'll look in the North wing, you look in the South wing." Athrun suggested.

"Whatever. Let's just get on with it." With that the two split.

Athrun waited for awhile, and sure enough, Cagalli and Arabella came. "Hey Cagalli, did you find Dearka yet?"

"No, no idea. But Arabella said she'll help." Cagalli responded, trying to hide a smirk.

"Well, I'm going to look for him in the North wing." Athrun continued, exactly like how they rehearsed.

"Hm...I'll go with you then." Cagalli turned towards Arabella. "You don't mind looking by yourself, do you?"

"Oh no, it's fine." Arabella reassured them. "I'll just go looking around in the South wing."

"Great! If you find anyone, just come looking for us."

"Okay." She replied, and then went on her way.

Cagalli and Athrun watched as she left, trying their best not to laugh. Then, after a few moments, they followed her, a safe distance away.

"Is anyone in here?" Arabella poked her head into the dark room. She sensed movement near, so she slowly went inside, fumbling for the light switch. "Can't see very well..."

"Ouch!" The other person yelled as the two collided, causing them to fall on the floor, the figure on top of Arabella.

"Yzak?" She said, recognizing him up close. Then she blushed furiously, as she tried to get out of the position they were in.

"So...what are you doing here?" Yzak asked, just as embarrassed. Thank goodness it was dark.

"Cagalli wanted me to help her look for Dearka and Miriallia." Arabella answered.

"So they dragged you into this mess too." Yzak groaned. "They really need to learn how to take care of their own problems."

"Well, helping out once in a while doesn't hurt." Arabella remarked, defending them.

Yzak shook his head. "You get taken advantage of that way. Regardless, they're not here, so let's go somewhere else." As if on cue, the door slammed, locking them in.

"What?!!"

Unknown to them, Cagalli and Athrun stood behind the door, snickering. "This is going to be fun." Cagalli remarked, rubbing her hands together.

"Hopefully, they won't kill each other." Athrun commented, jokingly.

Cagalli pretended to act shocked. "Athrun! I thought you knew Arabella better than that!"

"Oh, I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about Yzak." He laughed.

Cagalli laughed back. "Anyways, let's leave them there alone for a couple hours. I made up some story and had it circulated to everyone, so no one will be coming this way."

"Good." Athrun remarked. "So, what do you want to for the time being?"

Cagalli had on a goofy grin. "I want to go and get some ice cream."

* * *

"Kira, why aren't you reading?" Lacus asked.

Kira sat by the open window, sighing. Why did his mind wander so much? He did mostly get over the war, right? Didn't he? He started to make a promising recovery, so why is it that he never quite seemed to be at peace? The screams, the fear, the deaths...did he really deserve to enjoy his life? Was he being selfish by asking to be normal? Is this the price he had to pay for failing so many people? The little girl, Mwu, Fllay...just to name a few...Is this the retribution for their deaths? What about... what about...Nicol? Is this what he deserved for killing someone just for revenge? Is this the price for momentary hatred? Sure, he was the enemy, in a technical sense, but...

He never got to know Nicol himself. By the time they all decided to fight for peace, he was long gone, a victim of the unrelenting hatred brought on by war. Nicol had been such a peace-loving person, Athrun had once told him. He was always gentle, and had a passion for piano. There had been a future for him, one that had been stolen away from him.

"Kira, are you alright?" Lacus asked again, this time with a worried look on her face.

Was he alright? Kira wanted to laugh. Not at Lacus of course, but at himself. Laughing at the irony. Laughing at the idiot he had become. Laughing bitterly at himself for hurting Lacus. He always brought tragedy on all those around him. True, people would reassure him that none of it was his fault. That he had also been a victim. But he still felt guilty. It was his fault...

"You're thinking about the war aren't you?" Lacus merely stated. "And Fllay." She added.

"Yes." He replied, not wanting to lie to her although he had to pause a couple seconds before responding. "But also about Nicol."

"Kira..."

"I know you and everyone else told me to forget and move on, but I just can't!" He yelled, frustrated. Immediately he felt guilty again for shouting at Lacus. She was only trying to help after all. He had problems, not her. Here he hurt someone again.

"I never asked you to forget."

Kira's eyes opened wide, and he turned to face Lacus. "What do you mean?"

Lacus sighed. "Kira, I know it's impossible to just forget. Even I can't forget. All those people...my father..."

Her father...he had never considered that. He had been paying attention to his problems so much that he never considered to realize other people's pains. But then again, no one else really consoled Lacus either, which was strange.

"I'm not asking you to forget. In fact, it would be an insult to the deceased to forget. What I want..." She walked up to him, and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "Is for you to open up to new possibilities. All those that perished would have died in vain if the survivors didn't become happy. That includes you, Kira. If you continue to deny yourself, they will never rest in peace."

Kira nodded. She was right. He looked up to her smiling face. She looked so sweet and composed. The complete opposite of Fllay. She knew she had to be strong. Even with the death of her father she didn't turn hysterical. She knew what she had to do, and she carried on.

"Thank you." He managed to say.

She smiled in understanding. "Anytime."

* * *

"Where are you taking me Dearka?" Miriallia asked, confused.

"Here."

Miriallia looked up, and spotted an ice cream parlor. "Ice cream in the middle of winter?" She asked, questionably.

"Well, I think it tastes better when the weather's cold." He shrugged. Then he proceeded to drag Miriallia inside despite her protests. "So, what flavor do you want."

"I don't really care." She responded back. Dearka handed her an identical sundae to his, and they proceeded towards a table. Little did they know that Cagalli and Athrun had just entered the same building.

"So Cagalli, do you want a single scoop or a..." Athrun got cut off my Cagalli's hand over his mouth.

""Sh...don't you see them together?"

"Yea, but what does that have to do with...oh, I see..." Athrun sweat-dropped nervously as he recognized Cagalli's scheming look. "Cagalli don't you think you have enough schemes to worry about as it is?"

Cagalli suddenly had a frown on her face. "That's true...but can't we help them out a little bit?"

Athrun shook his head. "I think their issue is a bit "

"Since when has anything been not complicated?" Cagalli argued.

"I don't know." Athrun confessed. "But I just get the feeling that this isn't something for us to interfere in."

"Oh, all right." Cagalli responded, pouting. "But we could still watch them, can't we? I mean, we have to make sure Dearka doesn't do anything completely stupid."

"If you really want." With that, the two headed towards an obscure table, close enough to hear, but not be seen.

"So how have you been doing ever since we got here?" Dearka asked, attempting to start a conversation.

"You've been living in the same place as me. How could you not know?"

"Well, there could be things I don't know about you." Dearka scratched his head.

"Possibly." She responded as she popped the spoon into her mouth again.

"Well, I want to know more about you." Dearka confessed. "I want to know you more because..."

"Well, I'm finished with my ice cream." Miriallia stated quickly, cutting Dearka off. "I feel like going back now. Is that alright?"

Dearka nodded his head, although he looked disappointed. Throughout the whole trip back, the two avoided each other's eyes, neither one willing to confront the other. Both feared what the other would say, if given the chance.

* * *

"Is there really no where to go out?" Yzak asked Arabella.

Arabella nodded. "Unless you break over the door, we can't go anywhere."

"So why don't I just do that?" Yzak got himself ready.

"Not if you want to be able to stand afterwards."

Yzak sighed, exasperated. "Fine! We'll just wait until someone managed to come across us."

"It's not as if we had an alternative." She retorted back. Slowly, she fumbled around, and came across a couple candles and matches which have been conveniently placed there. "It's too bad that there isn't a light switch in this room. I forgot about that until we got locked in."

"So the perfect little princess does forget once in awhile, doesn't she?" Yzak snidely remarked. To his surprise, Arabella sighed.

"If only you knew."

"I may know more than I let on." Yzak put on a smirk.

"And you might just be bluffing." Arabella smirked back.

They both burst out laughing. "I guess it's always a stalemate when it comes to us." Arabella said quietly.

"I suppose."

They both stayed quiet for awhile. Then Arabella managed to have the courage to say something. "Well, I was wondering...just why is it that you keep yourself so distant?"

Yzak raised his head up, and looked straight into her eyes. "What would you say if I asked you why you act the way you do?"

"I...I can't answer that now..." She stammered.

"Then I can't answer either." He stated flatly.

"I see..." She smiled wistfully. "I would be a hypocrite if I expected otherwise."

It became silent once again, each person diving into his or her own thoughts. Then Arabella suddenly brightened. "Well, even if you don't want to tell me about yourself, you could still tell me something about the others, right? Do you have any funny stories about them by any chance?"

"Yzak suddenly had an evil grin on his face. "Oh, it would be my pleasure..."

* * *

"We've been looking all over for you two!" Cagalli acted as if she were shocked. "Dearka and Miriallia already took care of things, and so we started to look for you two instead. We were scared that you two just disappeared."

"How did you end up being locked in here?" Athrun asked.

"I don't know." Arabella confessed. "There might have been a glitch with the lock. I'll have someone look at it tomorrow." Then she faced Athrun, and tried her best not to laugh. "Well, I have work to do so I'll see you later."

"What is she trying not to laugh about?" Athrun asked Yzak as he watched Arabella's retreating form.

Yzak burst out manically. "I told her about the pajamas you wore during the war."

* * *

Chapter done! I'm really sorry about not updating quicker. It's just that I've been VERY busy. I'll try to update as much as possible.

So how was it?

Were the characters in character? I hope they weren't too OOC...I get the feeling that some of them were...

And about Lacus and her father...was it just me or during the series they seem to just skim over that really quickly? I don't know...I think it's just me...lol

Hopefully this chapter was better...

Oh, and in the next one, Kira and Lacus go with their plans, while we see a very interesting scene with Dearka and Miriallia (I mean, after the above DXM scene, who knows what would happen? Lol...), and of course, Cagalli will be goofing off as usual, dragging Athrun along. Wait for it!

Oh, and as a side note...I know that Cagalli and Athrun seem very happy compared to the others in the fic. So it may not seem so realistic right now, but trust me, they will be going through issues too, it's just that that's not going to happen until it's near the end of the story. Well, with that said, just one last word:

Thanks!


	16. So Close

Yay! Reviews!

_SeraphimEclipse- _It's okay...as long as you're still reading. XD Oh, and the estimate for the length, I put it up in my author bio. It should be there somewhere.

_Lomiothiel-YzaknNicol fangirl- _Yes, the Dearka Miriallia scene was short, but I purposely cut it off a bit abrupt so that I could address it in this chapter. And Nicol? Of course! Have to put him in somewhere! Lol...

_Angel of Dreams- _Yes, it's hard...thanks for caring about me! XD And if Yzak asks? My question is will he ever get the chance to ask? Lol...

_DarkFusion- _Thank you! Such a nice compliment...lol. And Andy? Hm...I'll need to think about that...the problem though is that I'm not exactly sure about what he does after the war. Need to do some research...

Thanks also to _King Arthur6687, (the smiling happy face), Prayer Reverie, nifer-inc, cherri-chan, mal, Annie, M.S Arashi Sumeragi, _and _Miss Akira. _(Everyone, rite?)

Yes, yes, _everyone_ wants to know about the pajama incident. It will be somewhere in the chapter. Well then, let's get going!

* * *

**CH. 16: So Close**

"Hey, Arabella...um...Caga...I mean, Nora said..." Kira stammered.

"No, that's not the way to do it!" Cagalli reproached him. "You really are a bad liar, aren't you Kira?"

"Well..." Kira scratched his head, embarrassed.

"Okay, let's try it one more time." Cagalli sighed exasperated. The group had locked themselves in the dining room, practicing. Of course, Kira and Lacus already had a plan. But that had been the easy part. The hard part was to make a believable lie for Arabella to fall for. With Kira and his pathetic lying skills, things weren't looking so bright.

"I don't think we have much time left." Lacus remarked. "Let's just try with what we have already."

"Fine, fine, but don't blame me if your plan doesn't work." Cagalli pouted.

"I'm sure they'll manage." Elise smiled. "By the way, we never reviewed what went on yesterday."

"Well, we didn't find much." Lacus confessed. "But we came across the words 'Shantela Neutrality Treaty'. Does that mean anything?"

"Well, I know Bella signed it for sure." Elise pondered. "It had something to do with the war, but I have no idea about the details. It's definitely a lead though." Elise told reassuringly.

"Well, I'm glad that we're useful somewhat."

"Don't worry about it. With the way things are hidden here, it's surprising that you even found that." Elise encouraged.

"Well, I'm glad that we have a start." Cagalli commented. "And as for our plan, well, you all know how it turned out."

"I guess it was a success, although little expense in Athrun's part of course." Elise snickered.

"By the way, what was that about your pajamas?" Kira asked.

"Nothing, nothing..." Athrun suddenly became very defensive.

"Oh," Dearka laughed, "Athrun wore a..." The next second, his mouth was completely covered by Athrun's hands.

"You tell them, and I'll let them know about what you always went to bed with..." Athrun whispered threateningly.

"Oh, right..." Dearka sweat-dropped nervously. "Never mind everyone, I don't really know..."

"Well, I doubt it's really important anyways...oh and, it's off time for me today right...well then, I'll see you guys around later!" With that, Athrun rushed out the door.

"Athrun Zala, you get back here!" Cagalli ran after him. Everyone else naturally sweat-dropped."

* * *

"Hi Kira, what are you doing all by yourself?" Arabella asked curiously.

"Well...um...Cagalli is up to mischief as usual, dragging Athrun along with her, Dearka and Milly disappeared, and um...I've been looking for Lacus." Kira went on, trying to sound casual.

"Oh, want me to help look for her?" Arabella offered.

"No, that's fine." Kira declined. Now came the hard part. "Um...Nora...asked me to tell you that the garden's going to be rearranged soon, and she wanted you to go see and make some suggestions to her later..." He managed to spit it out.

"Oh." Arabella remarked, confused. "Why all of the sudden? I thought we usually don't bother with that until spring. And where's Nora right now?"

"Well, I'm just the messenger." Kira tried to make his shrug seem as natural as possible. "And as for Nora, Elise dragged her out to go shopping with her at the last minute." The last part came easy, because it was true. Elise managed to get her grandmother "out of the way" so that they could initiate the plan. Arabella looked at Kira closely. Although she didn't quite believe him, she doubted that Kira would lie...

"Alright then, I'll just go now. Would you like to come with me?" She suggested.

"No, I'm fine." Kira managed to breath a sigh of relief as Arabella went on her way. He didn't blow it this time.

* * *

"Athrun Zala, you better come out here right now!" Cagalli stomped across the corridors, her temper evident, causing everyone within range to cringe. "If you think you could hide from me, you got another thing coming!"

Cagalli poked her head into every room, trying to see if he hid in there. "He has to be here somewhere..." She sighed, exasperated.

Little did she know, Athrun had run to his room and hid himself in the closet. Now he just sat there, making sure not to make too much noise. He was so embarrassed. Not only because of the pajama of course, but also because of the situation he just got himself into. The once legendary pilot of ZAFT hiding in a closet because of some girl? Good thing Yzak wasn't here to witness this. Athrun couldn't help but smirk when Yzak's name came up. Oh, he would have his share of torture as well...

"Found you!" Cagalli screamed as she opened the closet door wide, shocking Athrun, and causing him to roll out of there, hitting his head on a bedpost.

"Ouch..." Athrun rubbed his head.

"Oh my...Athrun, are you all right?" Cagalli asked, momentarily forgetting her anger. "Here, let me take a look at it." She approached him, and then gently parted his hair to get a better view. In the meantime, Athrun blushed madly, seeing that Cagalli stood so close... "I think it's okay." Cagalli remarked as she began to step away, satisfying, or rather, disappointing Athrun. "Why did you have to run away like that?" Cagalli reproached, remembering why she chased him around. "I mean, it can't be _that_ embarrassing..." Cagalli stopped, noticing something at the corner of the closet. "Is that...is that..." Cagalli burst out laughing, much to Athrun's embarrassment. In the darkest corner of the closet, there laid a set of blue pajamas, covered all over with cute little yellow duckies.

* * *

"Hm...the red roses could go here, the white ones could go in the other section..." Arabella contemplated, as she walked through the huge garden.

"Now where in the world could that thing be..." Arabella paused and looked up when she heard the voice.

"Yzak, what are you doing? I've never seen you walk out here before."

"I'm only out here because Yamato's girlfriend seems to have lost one of her hairpins." He answered, exasperated. "I would have told her to go find it herself, but she looked so pathetic that I said I'll help look for it."

"That's not a nice thing to say about Lacus!" She scolded. "Must you always criticize everyone?"

"Why not?" Yzak smirked.

"Because no one's perfect. I'm sure you make a lot of mistakes yourself." Arabella retorted back.

"So?"

Arabella sighed. "It's nice talking to you, but sometimes you're so frustrating."

"That's the whole point."

Arabella rolled her eyes, and started walking away. Yzak followed. "Where are you going?" Not that he really cared of course.

"I need to check out the fountain area." Arabella replied.

"There's a fountain here?"

"Yes. In fact, you might find Lacus's hairpin there. She seemed to go there often."

"Fine. But I'm only going with you so that I could find the thing and go about my own business." He grudgingly replied.

"Suit yourself."

* * *

"Miriallia, we need to talk."

Miriallia dropped the book she held. She knew it would eventually come to this, but she never wanted to admit it...The whole time she and Dearka stayed alone in the library, she kept her nose in the books, afraid that something like this would happen...

"So..." Dearka stammered nervously, "what do you think of me..."

She hid her face with the book again, not wanting him to see her expression. What could she say that will not let her betray herself and Tolle, and not hurt Dearka at the same time? Was it possible? She didn't want to hurt anyone, but she didn't have very many options.

"Because...well...you already know how I think about you..." Dearka finished.

A long pause followed. Miriallia was tense, trying to figure out what to say, and how to say it. In truth, she didn't really understand just exactly what she felt. She really did love Tolle at one time. But Dearka...there was definitely something there too. Caught in between the middle. She couldn't let go, but she couldn't stay. Slowly, she started to speak.

"To tell you the truth Dearka, I don't know. I don't know what I'm feeling right now. Everything's so confusing. I did start to let go, I really did...but...right now, I just want to be by myself for awhile. Tolle...it was just so tragic. I need time to be alone, to strengthen myself..."

"Miriallia, look at me." When she didn't, he gently grabbed her chin and faced her towards him. "I understand." He reassured her, although he did look a bit disappointed. "I never expected you to change so easily. If I thought that you're so fickle, I wouldn't have liked you in the first place." He paused. "I...I just want you to know that I'll be waiting..." He wiped the single tear falling from Miriallia's eye, and then backed away to his own little corner, leaving her to ponder on her own.

* * *

"Admit it Yzak, it is impressive."

The two started to approach the fountain, staring at the two magnificent angels staring at each other at the very top of it. "I don't really change anything here." Arabella told Yzak. "It's perfect the way it is."

"Why?" Yzak asked.

"Well, you might think that the reason's too sentimental..." She started to blush. "But this is the place where my father proposed to my mother. By keeping it exactly the way it was before, I remember just how happy we all used to be..."

"What happened to them?" Yzak suddenly asked.

"It's...it's a long story." She suddenly became defensive. "Oh, look. There's Lacus's hairpin." She pointed, changing the subject in the process. Sure enough, it laid at the edge of the fountain, very innocently. "Let's go get it!" Arabella ran, followed right behind by Yzak. "Here it...whoa..."

Arabella, at the very edge of the fountain, slipped, and fell into the water, dragging Yzak, who instinctively tried to support her, with her. Both emerged a couple seconds later, soaking wet. "It's..._cough_...a good thing..._cough_...that it's not too deep..._cough_...because I can't swim..." She remarked, shivering. Yzak nodded his head, trying to put on a smirk, although he was freezing himself.

"Well then, it was a good thing that I was here..." He stopped, seeing just how close her face was underneath him. He started to lower his face slowly...

"Princess!" The two moved away from each other suddenly, and in a matter of seconds, Nora showed up right around the corner. "Princess, I've been looking all over for you..." She paused, seeing how drenched the two of them were. "What happened?"

"Well, I accidentally slipped, and Yzak tried to catch me, but instead I dragged him into the fountain with me." Arabella explained, trying not to blush.

"Oh, I see." Nora replied, although there were glints in her eyes. "I needed to talk to you about the upcoming ball..."

"Oh, all right." Arabella replied. "I'll go with you." She turned around to face Yzak, at the same time trying not to seem too embarrassed. "I'll...um...I'll see you later." With that, she left, leaving Yzak, who was still in a bit of a haze.

* * *

"That was so close." Lacus pouted, while coming out of their hiding place in between some shrubs. Kira nodded his head in agreement.

"At least it's getting somewhere."

"I guess so. It's just that it was so close...and what about all that hard work you did waxing the marble floor?"

* * *

Hahaha.....did you really think they were going to kiss in this chapter? Lol...that's not going to happen for a LONG time...lol

And of course, my usual, "how was the chapter?" question pops in again...lol.

Oh, and sorry for the late update...really really busy...too much reading...ugh...but I'll try to update at least once per week.

Next up is Miriallia and Dearka's plan, but will they be able to complete it well with what's going on between them? And of course, it's Lacus and Kira's free day, so what will they do? And what will Athrun and Cagalli stumble upon in their research?

Oh, and the short summary for _Butterfly_ should be up by now in my author bio. Should I write that one in the future? Of course, I'm not going to start anything new until I finish this one (this one is enough work as it is...lol) but I want to know for future references.

And of course, thank you for reading! )


	17. The Snow and the Thousand Cranes

Whoa, I haven't updated for a LONG time...sorry...

_Risa-Chan- _More descriptions you said? All right, I'll give it a shot...lol. And Dearka's secret...hm...I'm not sure if it's going to come up this chapter but it _will _come up. Oh, and yes, there's dirt on _everyone_. Lol...

_King Arthur 6687-_ Yes, more stuff needs to happen between Yzak and Arabella before that occurs...be patient! Lol...

_vindicated- _A _nice _love life you say? Well, things won't exactly be easy, but hey, at least he has one...lol...

_Absolute Darkness- _Yes, Yzak really did improve, didn't he? Lol...

_christophirus- _Oh, Icedale is a country...lol. And don't worry about asking...I don't mind at all.

Thanks also to _Angel of Dreams, DarkFusion, Witch01, cherri-chan, Shadowsin, Kausi, Annie, M.S. Arashi Sumeragi, Rinelwin, Miss Akira, (the smiling happy face), KaRa, Sakura Kuonji, AnimeSiren, nObOdY, sailor-z-360, _and _PsychicIce._

* * *

**Ch. 17: The Snow and the Thousand Cranes**

"So they almost..." Cagalli asked eagerly.

"Yea, except then Nora interrupted..."

"I tried to stall as much as possible, but I think my grandmother started to suspect that something was going on." Elise replied, regretfully. "But I suppose it was better than nothing."

"So how did the research go?" Cagalli changed the topic.

"Well...um...we couldn't really find much..." Miriallia replied nervously, although she tried her best not to seem so.

Elise raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on the subject. Instead she went on. "You know, I get the feeling that we won't be able to find anything useful unless we get some access towards the restricted section."

"But that's next to impossible." Kira protested.

"Exactly. It's _next _to impossible." Cagalli suddenly smirked. Everyone stared at Cagalli, wanting to hear an explanation. "Well, actually, it was more of Athrun's plan than mine." Cagalli blushed. "What I basically did was to convince her that I really needed to research more about Orb in order for me to be a better ruler, and the resources I had now weren't enough."

"Wait, so she just handed over the access codes just like that?" Dearka glared incredulously.

"No..." Cagalli sweat-dropped. "Use your brain. If it were only that easy..." Cagalli gave a frustrated sigh. "She was very hesitant at first, and when I finally _did_ convince her, she only let me have access to a small shelf of books. Supposedly each row, shelf, bookcase, data file, and even the doors have their own access codes. You're suppose to 'log in' on a directory computer before you touch anything, and when you finally do, you can only touch the items that are designated. Otherwise, the alarm goes off again."

"That's such a complicated system." Lacus remarked. "But I suppose that also implies that the things that are there are important enough to be protected like that."

Elise nodded in agreement. "That would make sense. So are you planning to hack into the system when you're in there?"

Cagalli nodded. "That's basically my plan. Anyways, so is everything set?" She asked, looking at Dearka and Miriallia.

"Yea..." They both replied, although a bit half-heartedly.

"Is there something the matter?" Lacus asked, concerned.

"Nothing."

"Well, alright then..." Elise started, trying to get rid of the awkwardness. "So Arabella did agree right?"

Cagalli nodded. "She did, but of course, she doesn't have any idea just exactly what's going on." Again she had a smirk on.

"And Yzak?"

"That was easy." Athrun replied with a smirk that rivaled Cagalli's. "Just had to use his own pride against him as usual."

"Well then, everyone just has to play their roles and everything will run smoothly."

* * *

"You know, we can drop this whole thing if you're not comfortable working with me." Dearka suggested when they remained alone. After what happened the day before, they both started to avoid each other. Rather, Miriallia did all the avoiding while Dearka just decided to give her the space she asked for. Unfortunately, hiding the situation from others had become rather difficult.

"No...I'm going to go through with this..." Miriallia replied, although she seemed uncomfortable.

"Are you sure..." Dearka stopped as he noticed Yzak and Arabella coming into the room.

"Hi..." Arabella said confusedly, feeling the tension. "So..."

"Where's everyone else?" Yzak asked irritably.

"Well, Lacus and Kira just disappeared. Who knows what those two are doing." Dearka gave a wink, earning a playful slap from Miriallia. Once she realized what she did however, she withdrew quickly.

"Um, okay...what about Elise, Athrun, and Cagalli?" Elise continued, pretending to not notice Miriallia's reaction.

"Well, Elise is up to spending some _quality time_ with her grandmother again, and well, Cagalli doesn't seem to look so well..."

"She's sick? But just yesterday she seemed very active..." Arabella commented, concerned. "Maybe we should check on her before we do anything else." With that she headed towards Cagalli's room. After softly knocking, she entered slowly, and found a concerned looking Athrun sitting next to Cagalli's bed. "Is she going to be alright?" Athrun nodded his head.

"She's going to be fine. I think she caught a cold. If she has a good rest today, she'll probably be up and running by tomorrow, which will be sooner than most people would want." He managed to joke.

"I heard that you jerk..." Cagalli pouted, her voice raspy. Then she turned her head towards Arabella, looking apologetic. "I'm really sorry that I can't go...but in this case even I have to admit defeat."

"It's perfectly fine." Arabella reassured her. "Besides, I would question your sanity if you did otherwise."

Cagalli smiled weakly. "Thanks. But I really did want to go play in the snow..."

"We could go again anytime you want. Just try to get better soon." Arabella suggested. "Well, I'll leave you two alone now. Take good care of her Athrun." Athrun nodded as Arabella walked out, closing the door behind her.

"She bought it!" Cagalli jumped out of bed once the coast became clear.

"Well, you were pretty good with the acting." Athrun smirked.

"You weren't so bad yourself." She smirked back.

* * *

Kira poked his head out the door, looking back and forth to make sure that the coast was clear. Cagalli and Athrun had a believable plan, but unfortunately he and Lacus didn't, so they decided to hide instead. Realizing that they had left for good, he walked out, and proceeded towards the room that Lacus hid in. "Lacus, they're gone..." Kira stopped short at the sight in front of him. Lacus sat down in the middle of the room, surrounded by multiple colors of origami papers, and at the moment she stayed busy making a crane. To everyone else, the sight would have seemed ordinary enough, and if anything, quite adorable. However, to Kira, the display before him seemed almost ominous.

"Oh, there you are Kira. I was wondering when you were going to come and get me." Lacus greeted him, smiling.

"The little girl..." Kira stood still, recalling the memory. He couldn't let the same thing happen again...

"Kira, are you all right?" Lacus looked up, concerned. "Here, why don't you come and sit next to me?" She gestured, and Kira mindlessly followed.

"What are you making?" Kira managed to ask.

"Oh, cranes." Lacus replied. Seeing the confused look on Kira, she smiled once again. "There's a story saying that if you make a thousand cranes one of your wishes will come true."

"And just what is it that you wish for?" Kira smiled, amused, momentarily forgetting his depression.

"What do you think, Mr. Yamato?" Lacus gave him a wink, completely catching Kira off guard.

"Well...uh..." Kira stammered, getting nervous.

Lacus laughed at his behavior. "Want to help make them?"

"Sure...but I don't know how..." Kira replied.

"Here, I'll teach you!" Lacus suddenly got excited. "First you fold the paper into a triangle..."

Kira couldn't help but smile at Lacus. She seemed so innocent, yet she played a crucial role in ending the war as well. Such a paradox...

"Are you listening, Kira Yamato?" Lacus pouted, pretending to be angry.

"Of course, Miss Clyne." Kira replied back, laughing. He pushed aside his dark memories. For now, all that mattered to him was the woman right next to him.

* * *

"Come on Athrun, hurry up with the hacking! They'll be back in a couple hours!" Cagalli pressured Athrun.

"I'm trying, but this is very complex." Athrun shouted back, typing madly at the computer at the same time. "Did you at least try to look at the books that were already available?"

"What do you think I'm doing now?" Cagalli replied, frustrated. "There's nothing useful in these. We need to get to the other restricted things."

"All right...here it goes..." Athrun pressed the enter key. The three shelves nearest to them suddenly lit up, causing Cagalli to jump away in surprise. Athrun wiped the sweat off his forehead. "That's all I can do for now, so I hope you're happy with it."

"It's a start." She replied approvingly. "You take care of the top ones and I'll look at the bottom ones."

"Already doing that." Athrun answered with a smile. "After all, you are shorter than me."

"Hey! That doesn't mean anything!" Cagalli protested. "Why you...hey Athrun, what's wrong?"

"What...what is this doing here?" Athrun stammered, not believing his eyes. "These...these are ZAFT secret military records..."

* * *

"It's so beautiful here!" Miriallia remarked, forgetting everything else momentarily and staring at the landscape.

"It really is amazing isn't it?" Arabella replied, looking at the faraway mountains covered completely in snow, with a huge frozen lake at the bottom of it.

"You girls need to stop admiring the view and actually start having fun." Dearka teased.

"And just what do you mean by that?" The two girls retorted.

"Like THIS!" Dearka swung his arm, letting the snowball that he had been hiding fly straight at the girls.

"HEY!!" The two girls looked back angrily after they just barely managed to dodge it.

"You two better hurry up and retaliate before I throw another one!" Dearka laughed maniacally while running away from them.

"Should we give him a few seconds before we chase after them?" Arabella suggested.

Miriallia smirked. "Alright, after all, he's going to need it!"

"Okay. One, two, THREE!!" The girls ran after Dearka madly, holding gigantic snowballs each.

"Hey Yzak, help me out here!" Dearka yelled as he ran past Yzak.

"If you think I'm going to..." He got cut off, thanks to a snowball hitting him squarely in his face. "All right, that's it!"

Soon it turned out into an all out war, and somehow, it became Dearka vs. Miriallia, and Yzak vs. Arabella. "This isn't the same as a game of chess. You need stealth for this. There's no way you're going to beat me!" Yzak yelled from across the field.

"Who says I don't have stealth?" Arabella retorted, barely dodging Yzak's snowball. With that, she started charging towards him, completely taking him by surprise.

"Who...what..." Yzak chocked as Arabella rubbed cold snow all over his face. Once he got back in control, he made a grab for Arabella's arm. "So is that the way you're going to play?" He grabbed a handful of snow and dumped it all over her hair.

"Ugh!" She glared at him furiously. "That's it, you're really going to get it." She knocked into him, causing the two of them to roll down the hill. Once they reached the bottom, they were both sprawled out, laughing their heads off.

"Alright, alright, that's enough." Both said at unison.

"It seems that whatever we do we come out as equals." Arabella remarked.

"It's just coincidence." Yzak shrugged arrogantly.

"You never seem to get enough of yourself." Arabella pouted.

"What else am I suppose to get enough of?" He smirked.

Arabella slapped his shoulder jokingly. "You know, your arrogance can't fool me anymore. So why don't you just drop that mask?"

"What about yours?" Yzak retorted.

Arabella sighed. "All right, why don't we do this? I'll try to drop my mask, and you try to drop yours."

"Seems like a fair trade." He replied, showing a genuine smile, which he hadn't done for a long time. "Just don't let the others know. I don't want to ruin my reputation."

* * *

"Did you send the invitations Nora?" Arabella asked, typing away at her hidden computer once again.

Nora emerged from the corner of the room. "Yes I did. But princess..."

"I know it's not our usual approach, but this way we can make sure that there won't be any attacks. After all, I don't think any terrorist groups would want to risk attacking if everything goes accordingly."

"Do you really think there would be a chance of an attack otherwise?" Nora asked hesitantly.

Arabella sighed. "I wouldn't put it past them."

* * *

Yay! Chapter done!

So how was it? Maybe it's not as up to caliber...hm...

Next up, the New Year's Eve Ball! Wondering what's going to happen? And who did those extra invitations go to? And of course, Ray and Lucia show up again! XD Oh joy...lol.

Oh and I PROMISE to update as soon as possible. (although when that's exactly going to be I can't say...XD)

And of course, thanks for reading, as usual!


	18. Inevitable Decisions

Reviews...

Thanks to everyone that reviewed! You know who you are...lol. Since everyone seems to ask the same questions, I'll just answer in one long reply:

Ah yes...the long waited return of Ray and Lucia. It's going to be an all out war so watch out! XD. And why Arabella has the ZAFT records? Well, I can't say everything in this chapter...in fact, there won't be too much on it this chapter, but it will become VERY clear later on. Oh...and that's not all she has...(hint hint). And of course, more and more intrigue...by the way, did I happen to mention that there will be some unexpected appearances in this chapter? XD And what insanity will Cagalli cook up? Lol...And will the tension between Dearka and Miriallia lessen? What's going on with Kira and Lacus? Uh oh, I see tension between Ray and Yzak...XD.

So, let's go!

(and yes, hard to think up a title...lol)

* * *

**Ch. 18: Inevitable Decisions **(or Struggles of a New Beginning) 

"No, that's the wrong color! And that's not supposed to be there!" Elise shouted at the maids, exasperated. "This happens every year..."

"Things looking any better?" Elise turned around to see Nora smirking at her.

"Grandma, why am I the one that's in charge of the decorations?" Elise protested. "Why can't someone else do it?"

"The place won't look so great otherwise." Nora smiled. Elise just rolled her eyes.

"I told you before, I'm not going to wear a dress!!" A yell echoed throughout the place. Curious, Elise abandoned her duties for a moment to see what the commotion was about.

"Hey, what's going on?" She asked, seeing Kira, Lacus, Dearka, Miriallia, Yzak, and Arabella standing outside Cagalli's door, looking amused.

"Cagalli's having one of her dress fits again." Kira explained, struggling to keep from bursting into laughter. "Poor Athrun is at the receiving side of her rage."

"But Cagalli, it's a ball. You have to wear a dress..." Athrun protested.

"Well then I just won't go." Cagalli pouted.

"Just wear the thing already!" Yzak yelled, annoyed, ignoring the disapproving looks coming from Arabella.

"Yea who knows, you might actually look decent for once." Dearka joked.

"What did you say?" Cagalli glared at Dearka furiously.

"Dearka, run." Not even waiting to be told twice, Dearka sped away from the room as fast as possible.

"You come back here!" Cagalli started to chase after him, until Arabella managed to stop her.

"Well Cagalli, if you really don't want to wear a dress, you don't have to, but Lucia will probably..."

As if on cue, Lucia and Ray appeared. Ray gave a shy wave to everyone, while Lucia held her head up high. However, in passing by Yzak, she gave him a smile, and then proceeded to have the ugly look on her face once again. However, she looked delighted when she spotted Cagalli. "Oh, you're going to be at the ball too? It's such a pity. You'll probably look fat in a dress. Why don't you just stay in your room for today?"

"We'll see about that!" Cagalli gave Lucia a cold glare. "All right, I need to get ready so everyone out!"

* * *

"Well, looks like that's taken care of." Arabella smiled. "I need to make sure that everything's going according to plan and then get ready, so I'll just see everyone during the ball." With that, she left. 

"I'm going to go and see if she needs any help organizing something." Ray said, and followed after Arabella. Yzak looked after them, almost tempted to follow. But unfortunately, at that moment, Lucia instantly clung onto him.

"Yzak," she said in a fake sugary voice. "I don't really have a partner. You don't have one either right? So let's go together."

"Actually, I'm going with Yzak." Elise replied, causing everyone to stare at her in disbelief.

"Is this true, Yzak?" Lucia asked, trying to use puppy eyes.

Yzak contemplated. He had to either answer yes, or be stuck with Lucia for the night. The answer was really obvious. "Yes, I'm going with Elise." He told her straight-off, escaping from her grasp.

"Fine!!" Lucia shouted angrily. She proceeded to march out of the room.

"You're lucky I saved you there." Elise remarked, once Lucia went out of earshot. Yzak couldn't help but nod.

* * *

"Dearka, can I talk to you?" 

Dearka turned around, surprised to find Athrun, looking serious. "Yea sure, what's the matter?"

"It's about what I found yesterday while researching with Cagalli."

"Oh, that." Dearka brushed it off. "We could all talk about that tomorrow. It's not that urgent..."

"She has ZAFT records."

"She...WHAT?!!" Dearka stared at him, completely disbelieving. "You're kidding right? How would she have access to them?"

"I have no idea. All I know is that I saw them. And I only got a glimpse of the contents. Who knows what other things are down there."

Dearka slumped into a nearby chair. "This is getting a bit too big. It's not fun and games anymore, is it?"

"It never was."

"Is this why you didn't say anything about it when the others were around?"

Athrun nodded. "I didn't think it would be a good idea to tell them. After all, they never were associated with ZAFT."

"Should we tell Yzak?" Dearka asked, hesitantly.

"No. Otherwise we would have to explain to him how we managed to find the information in the first place."

"I see. Besides, we don't want to spoil his fun right now, do we?" Dearka smirked.

Athrun smirked back. "You noticed too?"

"Of course I did. It's just that he's too stubborn to admit it to himself." The two became silent for awhile.

"You know, I don't really think Arabella is bad. A bit troubled, yes, but she doesn't seem to have any bad intentions." Dearka remarked. Athrun nodded in unison.

"Hopefully there's a good reason for her holding the information. I wouldn't be surprised if there was."

"Yea, there probably is." Dearka replied.

Athrun sighed. "Let's hope so. At least for our sakes, and especially Yzak's."

* * *

She looked at herself in the mirror. Smile. Perfect. After all, none of this amounted to anything more than a game. All acting. And she was a very good actress. If only it were otherwise... 

But that was just her foolish ideals. Politics never went that way. And it could never change. So she had no choice but to play her part. Self sacrifice. Always.

Sometimes she got sick of it. She wanted to live for herself. If she could just step down...but no, she couldn't. Especially not now, with so many people in danger. Oh, she knew that her guests and Elise were trying to find information about her and this place. She even knew to what extent Cagalli and Athrun went to just to get their hands on some restricted information, and she also knew exactly what information they found. Not only because she knew what section they hacked into, but the look on Athrun's face told everything. He had no reason to worry though. After all, she had every right to have the information. But she wasn't going to tell him that. It wasn't only her secret, but also the country's secret. She couldn't afford such a sacrifice. No, not now.

If she knew, just why was she letting them continue? She couldn't believe herself for letting it all go on. When anyone else had attempted to do something like that, she had eliminated them swiftly. So why did she turn a blind eye? Was her true self retaliating? Wanting someone to help...desperately wanting someone to understand...No! She could not have that! She had to do this alone. It was her responsibility. To let others in will result in them getting hurt, and she will fail, not only in keeping the country safe, but in keeping those close to her safe.

"What would you have me do?" Arabella asked, facing a part of a wall covered by an array of curtains. "And what would you have me do?" She asked again, this time looking at a certain drawer in her desk. No answer.

She sighed. It was always this way. Always up to her to decide. She shifted her attention towards the two cases in front of her. One contained a brilliant platinum set with glaring blue diamonds that would cause anyone to blink a couple times, yet praise its beauty. The other contained a silver star necklace and dangling earrings, both inlaid with sapphires. It looked like nothing compared to its rival, and yet, somehow, it shined just as beautifully to Arabella. The second set had it's own beauty, and in a sense, it had more elegance and serenity compared to the other one...

One was the one that she had been set up with. The one she was expected to be with. Other one...A member of the ZAFT High Council...And she...It could never it? She reproached herself. How could she indulge in something so foolish? How could she even hope? Dreams never became reality. Especially hers. Besides, she didn't quite know her feelings yet either. She could be plunging into something and regretting it later on. But...she wanted to, for once, choose for herself...at least for the moment...

Taking a deep breath, she decided, and walked out with her choice, hoping that it was the right one.

* * *

Yzak and Elise slowly followed the others downstairs into the ballroom. Everyone looked happy, except for Lucia, who kept on giving side glances to Yzak, and Arabella, who was absent at present because she had to make her own entrance. 

"You know, you don't really have to stay with me if you don't want to. I just said that to get Lucia away." Elise whispered to Yzak.

"I don't think she'll let me off that easily though." Yzak replied, suppressing a groan.

"Well then, just stay with me until you lose her and then you can do whatever you want."

"Got it."

Elise looked at him surprised. "Since when have you gotten so agreeable?"

"Don't push your luck." Yzak retorted.

"Getting defensive aren't we?" Elise teased.

Yzak began to retort when suddenly...

"Well, it looks like you're enjoying yourself too much to even miss me." Yzak turned around to see the person speaking...

"Mother!" He stared in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"You almost sound as if you didn't want to see me." She reproached, yet smiling.

"Um...of course not mother...it's just that it's so surprising...hey, what are you laughing at?" Yzak suddenly turned towards Elise, who had a hard time controlling her laughter, seeing Yzak cower before his mother.

"Well, it was unplanned actually. But an invitation came from the ruler herself to all ZAFT High Council members, and I thought it was a good opportunity to scope the country and to see how my son was doing. Although it's a bit strange since it's a very rare opportunity to even set foot in this country, much less be..." Ezaria stopped all of a sudden, hearing Yzak's remark to the girl next to him. Her face suddenly brightened in interest. "Oh, and who might you be?"

"Oh, I'm Elise. And I'm just..."

"And I'm Lucia." Lucia suddenly butted in. "I'm sure Yzak told you all about me. You see, he and I are..."

"Um Lucia, let's go over this way, I need to talk to you about something..." Ray came to the rescue, dragging Lucia away. "I'm so sorry, she can get a bit rude sometimes." He apologized, clearly embarrassed.

"And as I was saying..." Elise continued, watching Lucia and Ray moving away from them. "I'm doing Yzak a favor by keeping that annoying girl away from him."

"Oh, I see." Ezaria replied, although sounding a bit disappointed. "And here I was hoping that Yzaky finally got a girlfriend."

"Mother!!"

"Sorry to disappoint you Mrs. Jule. You'll have to wait longer for that to happen, unless of course, you want that annoying girl to be your future daughter-in-law." All three repressed shudders. "And by the way, did you say Yzaky? Wait till I tell Arabella about this!" Before Yzak had a chance to protest, a crowd started to gather around the staircase entrance.

"Ladies and gentleman, presenting her highness, Arabella Shante!"

All eyes glued towards the figure that glided down the twirling staircase, to catch the gleam from the silver hair, shoulder-cut cerulean dress, and mysterious cobalt eyes.

"She's so young!"

"Not to mention, beautiful."

"And what about the accessories she's wearing?"

Upon hearing the last statement, Yzak focused his attention on her neck and ears. What he found knocked him out of his senses. She had on his necklace! His earrings! Not the gorgeous ones that Ray gave her, but the ones that _he_ gave. Seeing Yzak stare at her, she smiled, causing him to forget about everything else...But the moment broke as Ray stepped forward and lead Arabella away.

Yzak went on with his witty remarks towards Elise, acting as if nothing happened. But Ezaria knew better.

* * *

"Princess Cagalli Yula Attha, it's a pleasure to see you, although this is quite a surprise." Cagalli turned around, surprised that someone bothered to address her.

"Oh, thank you. Just out of curiosity, have we met before?" Cagalli asked, confused.

"I don't think so, but I have had glimpses of you during some of the negotiation meetings."

"Really? I'm sorry but I don't quite remember you. Which organization do you belong to?"

"I'm with the Earth..."

"Earth Alliance? But then why would you be here?" Cagalli remarked, surprised. Then she realized her tone, and apologized. "I'm sorry, hopefully I didn't sound too rude."

The man laughed. "It's quite alright. Actually, I'm quite surprised myself. Who would have thought that of all the places to get an invitation from, it would be Icedale?"

"Is it really that rare?" Cagalli stared to ask, ready to get information from him. Unfortunately, it got cut short, due to the fact that others started to note her presence as well.

"Isn't that the Princess of Orb?"

"Yea, it is. I didn't expect the princess to be here."

"Hey, that's _Representative_ Cagalli Yula Attha. Don't you remember that she doesn't like being called princess anymore?"

Suddenly, people started to address her left and right, causing Cagalli to be a bit lost in the attention. "I told you you'll be happy to come to the ball." Athrun whispered into her ear.

"Well...I...I guess so." Cagalli admitted.

Unfortunately, a disgruntled Lucia came along. "How come she's getting more attention than me? She's only a Natural!" Lucia thought to herself. "Well, I guess people feel so sorry for you that they have to continuously talk to you." Cagalli froze for a moment. Lucia always had to ruin her happiness. It was unfair. Then she spotted Arabella near. Cagalli thought up a brilliant scheme. She glanced at Arabella, who acknowledged her, and indicated that she'll follow Cagalli's plan.

"That was very unnecessary Miss Lucia!" Cagalli said, pretending to be very shocked. "Princess Arabella, do you usually let your subjects act in such way towards representatives of other states?"

"Oh, I'm very sorry Representative Attha." Arabella replied with mock apology. "I'll move her from the premises instantly if you want."

"Oh no, that isn't necessary. I'm sure it was all a mistake."

"Hey, you know that I meant everything I said!" Lucia yelled, completely aware that they were making fun of her.

"Well then, I'll have to say that you're very rude." Cagalli replied, still using the haughty air. "I have better things to do than to be in your company." With that, Cagalli moved away, knocking a wine glass towards Lucia."

"Hey!" Lucia yelled after her, furious, but retreated instantly, seeing that those surrounding her started to laugh at her.

"You're pretty good at playing court games." Arabella whispered to Cagalli as they went on their way.

"Huh?" Cagalli asked, confused. "I was just trying to defend myself against Lucia, and I just happen to come up with this bizarre idea. It's surprising that it even worked."

"Well, it's a good thing that you got some practice then. This is another war in Politics. In fact, this one's probably harder to deal with than the ones present on the negotiation table." Arabella sighed. "At least those are solid. It's hard to figure out what angle your opponent will approach you when it becomes a war of words."

"Thanks." Cagalli smiled. "You know, I'm still new at ruling a country, and I don't think diplomacy is exactly my strong point...anyways, can I depend on your help sometimes?"

"Anytime."

* * *

"Miriallia, could we talk?"

This was the moment she had been dreading. She didn't want to hurt Dearka, but she couldn't lie to herself either. If only she had been able to avoid him a little longer.

"Let's just be friends for now."

"Huh?" Miriallia burst out, definitely not expecting that.

"I'm not saying that my feelings changed. It's just that I rather forget about the issue for now. I've rather just stay friends rather than to make you feel uncomfortable." Dearka explained. Inside, it pained him to say those words. But this was all for Miriallia's sake. What was the point of pursuing her if she ran away from his presence the first chance she got? After all, wasn't it her happiness that mattered to him the most? He could wait. Perhaps being her friend first would be a good idea after all. He would get to know her better, and vice versa. Then, maybe...

"Um...sure!" Miriallia replied, a bit more cheerful this time. Although she felt guilty, in a sense she also felt relieved. He came up with an easy way out for both of them. But the corner of her mind kept on bothering her. How could someone say no to someone who's so considerate? Apparently her.

"So, how about a dance?" Dearka suggested, smiling.

"Well, I'm not very good..."

"Neither am I." With that, he dragged her towards the dance floor. "Maybe we could correct each other's mistakes."

"Perhaps." Miriallia smiled back, taking his hand.

* * *

"Ah Princess, it has been awhile." Arabella turned around, only to end up forcing herself to hide her disdain.

"Nice to see you too, _Senator_." She replied.

"Father!" Lucia ran towards them, followed by Ray. "You have no idea what happened to me today...

"Yes, yes, you can tell me all about it on the way home." He said, trying not to sound too annoyed.

"So, the rumors about your bad health must be false, since you felt well enough to come to the ball." Arabella replied.

"Well, how could I resist an invitation from my future daughter-in-law? Especially since I've been under house arrest for quite a while." He added at the end.

"Well, the invitation was out of courtesy. But if you're implying that I should discontinue the house arrest, I will not listen. My mother had thought it necessary, and I also support her opinion in this case."

"I suppose it's a _natural_ way of doing things." He sneered.

"Perhaps." She replied curtly, knowing just exactly what he implied. "Ray, I think it would be a good idea if you give _father_ a short tour of the place, since it had been such a _long_ time before he was allowed to step inside here. I have other things to attend to right now, so please excuse me." With that, she left three very startled Coordinators.

* * *

"Kira, why are you here?" Lacus asked, seeing him alone in the garden.

"I don't think I should go in." He replied dejectedly.

"Why not?"

"Well because..."

"Because why?"

"I don't feel comfortable."

By this time, even Lacus's infinite patience started to wear away. "Kira, why don't you feel comfortable? I mean, we're all inside too. In fact, it was quite fun seeing Lucia get all flustered..." She stopped, seeing that Kira hadn't cheered up.

"Kira, what's wrong?" She asked gently.

"I don't know. Seeing all those people, brings back memories again."

Lacus had two choices. She could either comfort him like she always did, or make him come to his senses. Obviously, the right one was...but she didn't know if she could bring herself to do it. It would pain her just as much to add to Kira's depression. But then again, she wanted what was best for him, didn't she? Then she had to.

"Kira Yamato! Listen to yourself! Is this what you really wanted to degenerate into?" Lacus reproached.

"But...you don't understand..." Kira protested.

"I don't understand? I don't?" This time Lacus looked hurt. "I had to go through the war too. We all had hardships."

"But still, it's different...I wasn't able to save..."

"Kira how do you think I really felt after my father died? Sure, I had to keep a mask on, acting as if nothing happened, except to give a few confessions to certain people. But how do you think I had to deal with the guilt that my father died because of me? Sure, Patrick Zala had already been weary of my father, but it wouldn't have come to assassination, if I hadn't led you to Freedom. What then? Should I have not done that?"

"No, but..."

"Kira, I know that letting go of the past isn't easy, but you need to still live your life. If you had another chance would you honestly have done things differently?"

Kira stayed silent, not even looking at her. Seeing that he wasn't going to answer her, she continued. "Kira, until you figure this out on your own, I'm going to have to keep my distance." With that, she walked off, causing Kira to stare blankly after her. Little did he know about the tears that kept on rolling out of her eyes.

* * *

"Princess, may I have a word with you?"

Arabella turned around to find a woman with silver hair, resembling...wait was she the...

"My name is Ezaria Jule." She smiled, realizing that Arabella figured it out. "And yes, I'm Yzak's mother."

"It's so nice to meet you!" Arabella smiled.

"How is Yzak? Still as stubborn as ever?"

"Of course, as always." Both women laughed in unison.

"By the looks of it you two seem to get along pretty well." Ezaria slipped in.

Arabella blushed nervously. "Well, compared to how he acts towards others...well, I guess you can say he gets along well with me."

"That's good to hear. The only person he ever decently got along with was me, and now he added you to his list. I'm getting jealous." She laughed.

"Well, you're his mother so I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Arabella smiled back.

"Oh, I'm not sure about that. He might end up getting closer to you." She hinted, her eyes glinting.

"Well...I..." Arabella stammered.

"Hey Bella, watch Miriallia and Dearka trying to dance. It's so cute to watch!" Elise interrupted, dragging Arabella with her.

Ezaria smiled after her. Yes, her son did know the right girl to pick.

* * *

"Athrun, what are you doing out here?" Cagalli asked, joining Athrun at a balcony.

"Well, I wasn't certain if I should show myself too much to ZAFT officials. After all, I did dissent from them, and not to mention all the trouble my father caused." He sighed. "I'll just have to wait until things get cleared up. Before that, I will have to use evasion tactics for awhile."

"I understand." Cagalli remarked, encouragingly.

"Thanks." Athrun replied. "It makes me feel so much better that you're always there to support me."

"Likewise."

Both smiled at each other. "That's nice to know." They spent the next couple moments staring into the dark sky, enjoying the moment.

"You should go back inside and have fun Cagalli." Athrun suggested. "You shouldn't let me spoil it."

"I actually like it better here." She confessed. "You know I don't like formal events very much. Besides," She looked smug, "I had my daily enjoyment by bashing Lucia."

"True." Athrun couldn't help but laugh. "I think everyone got enjoyment out of that."

"Yea." Cagalli replied, and then suddenly contemplated. "You know, I don't think I would treat her so badly if she was a bit nicer. It's kind of sad in a way."

"I suppose." Athrun remarked. "So anything else on your mind?"

"You." With that, she drew closer to Athrun, leaning against his shoulder. Anyone passing-by would know instantly that they were the happiest people on earth.

* * *

"Yzak, why are you walking around aimlessly, all alone? Aren't you happy that your mother came?"

Yzak stopped for a second, waiting for Arabella to catch up. "Sure I'm happy. But right now, I want to do some thinking."

"About what?"

"Well, that...Hey, what makes you think I'm going to answer that?"

"I never said you had too." She replied innocently.

"Sometimes I have to wonder why I'm so fascinated by you." Yzak murmured. Fortunately for him, Arabella didn't hear any of it. "By the way, why are you wearing that?" Yzak pointed to the star necklace, changing the subject.

"Why, you don't like it?" Arabella asked, pretend to be hurt.

"No, no, it's not that...It's just that you probably have so many better things to wear." Yzak hurriedly replied, thinking that she misunderstood, but seeing that she had been joking, he couldn't help but smile.

"Well, I happen to like this necklace." Arabella replied, trying not to blush. "It stands out from the others."

"You really think so?"

"Of course." Arabella nodded her head in affirmation.

"Hey Bella, there you are!" Ray approached them, completely ruining the moment. "Let's go and dance."

"But I don't really want to right now." Arabella protested.

"Come on now, don't be like that." Ray proceeded to drag Arabella until...

"She said she DIDN'T want to dance!!" Yzak yelled, forcing Ray to let go of Arabella's arm. The two boys glared at each other, as the tension between them increased.

"You two, stop it now!" Arabella shouted, pulling the two boys apart. "Ray, I'm sorry that I can't dance with you today. I'm really tired and I think I'm going to retire early." She then looked at Yzak. "Well, I'm going to go now, so enjoy the rest of the time, and try not to get in trouble." She smiled, and then left, leaving the two boys utterly bewildered.

* * *

"Come now dear brother, don't try to act serene and content. I know you're boiling inside." Lucia teased.

"What makes you say that? It was just a misunderstanding." Ray shrugged.

Lucia circled around him, smirking. "I know you well enough to know that although you may seem like the nice guy all the time, when you don't get what you want, things get ugly."

"Perhaps." Ray smirked back."

"You have a plan, don't you?" Lucia asked, excitedly. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be so calm right now."

"I don't know what you're talking about Lucia." Ray denied. "But I suppose you're excited because you want to receive some benefits as well."

Lucia snorted. "It's pretty obvious what I want."

"So it is. But is it really the man that's going to make you happy, or is it the fact that you took him away from someone?"

"It doesn't matter to me. As long as I get what I want." Lucia replied flatly. With that, she stalked off.

Ray watched as she disappeared. "Sometimes you're so simple-minded, sister."

* * *

That's it! Longer than usual, huh? Hope I didn't mess up in the process...lol

So how was it?

I sort of got the feeling that Lacus was OOC, but I couldn't figure out another way for the scene to go on otherwise. Oh and PLEASE don't kill me! Lol...

Yea, I think I might have done a lot of things that the readers would disapprove. Sorry...

Well, next time, there will be a Forum event, and what's this? How did they find out who she was? Lol...until next time!


	19. Principles Underneath

Hi everyone! Sorry for a really late update...I had been really preoccupied with midterms, and term papers...I didn't even get to check the e-mail account with the reviews until a day ago. (Yes, I have multiple accounts and sometimes I don't get to check all of them). Ugh! I probably did so bad on them! Anyways, (ahem, excuse my sudden burst of frustration...lol), when I opened my mail page, I was just: "Wow." Okay, so there were both positive and negative comments, but they're all helpful...

_Admiral Larsen-_ It was reassuring that someone approved of the Kira/Lacus break-off, since I was really hesitant about putting it up. But since I had initially planned it ( and I _rarely_ change plot, although I frequently change chapter breakups) I decided to put it anyways.

_Angel of Dreams-_ Yes, poor Dearka...but honestly, there doesn't seem to be another solution. _Hopefully_ they will both be happy in the end...

_Darkness is good- _Whoa...lol

_ALS International- _E-mail's not working? Hm...I wonder what's wrong...Oh, and as to anime updates, as I stated before, I haven't really had time to scope around...but could you recommend me a couple? Please? XD

_King Arthur6687- _Wait, _Insatiable Heart_ has the same thing? Where? (goes to read)...Yea, I haven't had any time to read other people's fics, and if I did, I would have devoted that time on my own fic or studied more for my midterms (no offense to the author though, fic's good). Well, it's not quite the same...I sort of get what you're saying though...Oh, and yes, you do have a good point. I should include more detail...but that would mean more chapters and elongated story...oh well, it's a trade-off. (But don't expect me to change plot though. Unless there's an obvious, _glaring_ error, I don't change plot. I usually plan it all out in the beginning and then decide chapter cuts as I go along). I'll keep it in mind and try to balance the factors. (Oh, and maybe the Kira/Lacus scene might have seemed rushed, because I wanted a flashback section in this chapter and I wanted the action in the previous chapter...we'll see...)

_Annie- _Hm...Ray's father? You really think so?

_Nobody Important...- _Eh? What do you mean you? Do I know you by any chance? Lol...(probably, it's just that I don't know who left the review...XD)

_Prince Takeru- _Whoa, thanks for all the reviews! And no, I don't mind reading your lengthy reviews, long is good! Lol...XD And about the blonde hair and jade eyes contrasting with the silver hair and cobalt eyes? Hm...it's interesting that you asked that question, especially at this specific time...such coincidence...lol.

Oh, and thanks also to _DarkFusion, Sakura Kuonji, alex, AnimeSiren, M.S Arashi Sumeragi, yvonne, cherri-chan, Kagome1992, temptress, _and _haro haro_!

Okay, review section was really long. I apologize...

* * *

**Ch. 19: Principles Underneath**

"Must you go already mother?" Yzak asked, helping his mother carry her luggage towards the car.

"Why Yzak, don't tell me you miss me already!"

"No, no, it's not that..." Yzak suddenly turned defensive. "It's just that I expected to stay longer than a day."

"Well, I didn't want to overstay my welcome." Ezaria explained.

"In that case, shouldn't I be going too?"

Ezaria looked at her son hard. "Do you _want_ to leave?"

"Well..." Yzak stammered, not even sure of himself.

"That's what I thought." Ezaria looked smug. "Besides, it's not under my jurisdiction to let you leave or not..." She murmured as an afterthought.

"Huh? What was that?"

"Nothing." She cut him off, not wanting to divulge into it further. "Besides, in your case, I don't think you overstayed your welcome. So you might as well take advantage of it."

"Are you asking me to spy mother?" Yzak raised an eyebrow.

"Not really." Ezaria replied straightforward, although seemingly evading something else.

"Mother, this is getting ridiculous! I _am _a member of the high council! I have a right to know!" He yelled, frustrated.

"Some council members with more experience than you don't even have a clue what's going on." She explained, managing to keep her cool. "Yzak, it's not as if I have much choice in the matter." Ezaria tried to explain, understanding his frustration. "I can't say much, and if you want to find out something, you'll have to do it yourself." Ezaria sighed. "To tell you the truth, you and I both don't have much say in whether you stay or not. Besides, you might be able to help a bit if you stay. This country might hold something crucial in keeping peace stable, and it's the best interest of the leaders of the world to make sure that nothing goes wrong."

"I don't quite understand mother, but I'll do as you say." Yzak replied firmly.

"Good." Ezaria looked at him warmly. "Maybe you and the others might break through the barriers this country and its ruler put on. Just try to stay safe in the process." With that, Ezaria entered the car and left, waving good bye.

"Good bye to you too, mother."

* * *

"You know, it's a good thing nothing bad happened during the ball." Elise sighed.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Cagalli asked, confused.

"Well, to tell you the truth..." Elise scratched her head not certain if she should continue. "Bella had been really afraid that someone might have attacked. I think that's why she sent those invitations in the first place. She had people from basically every side attend so that no one would risk an attack."

"So that's what it was about." Miriallia remarked. "I was wondering why there were people from the Earth Alliance here."

"Not to mention people from ZAFT." Dearka and Yzak added.

"Well, it was a smart move." Athrun remarked. Then he looked at Kira. "Hey, you seem quiet today. What's going on?"

"Hey, you too Lacus. Did something happen?" Cagalli asked.

"I'm always quiet." Both Kira and Lacus stated in unison. Once they realized this, they both looked away from each other, staring into some empty void.

"Um...sure, if you say so..." But the others knew something wasn't quite the same.

"Is there something you two want to tell us?" Cagalli slowly broached the subject.

"Where _is _Arabella right now by the way?" Lacus quickly changed the subject, surprising everyone. No one had ever expected Lacus to act that way.

"Well, hm...that's a good question. Where is she?" Elise managed to stammer, taken aback.

* * *

"You know, I suddenly remembered. Didn't you say something before about Dearka sleeping with something?" Cagalli asked Athrun.

"Huh?!!" Dearka suddenly yelped. "What...what are you talking about? And why would you remember something like that all of a sudden? Hee...hee..." He sweat-dropped.

"Hm...I think Dearka _is _hiding something." Miriallia added mischievously.

"No...why would I possibly do something like that?" Dearka backed away, clearly nervous.

"Yup, he's hiding something." Cagalli concluded for all of them. "You better tell us!"

"Come on, it's not that bad Dearka. It's not as embarrassing as my pajamas, and not to mention Yzak's secret." Athrun reassured him, although teasing him at the same time.

"Wait, Yzak has a secret too?" Cagalli stopped for a second, causing Yzak to flinch. "Hm...we must find out about that too. But first..." She grinned evilly at Dearka. Dearka gulped. Clearly he had no way of getting out of the situation. He slowly opened his mouth...

"Hey, who's that coming out of Arabella's common room?" Miriallia asked, causing everyone to hush and hide behind the nearest corner. Sure enough, a blond-haired girl emerged out of the door, and quickly went off towards the other direction.

"Elise?" Cagalli asked the others, thinking of the only logical conclusion.

"We weren't close enough to make sure."

"True, but I'm pretty certain that it wasn't her." Yzak concluded. "Elise has straight, upper-back length hair whereas that girl has wavy, waist length hair."

"You actually noticed the difference?" Dearka looked at Yzak surprised. "I didn't know you were so observant."

"And I didn't know that you could be more empty-headed than you already were." Yzak retorted.

"Hey, you two, we don't have time for this right now." Athrun interrupted. "We need to figure out what to do."

"Well, it's quite simple isn't it? We'll have to follow her." With that, Yzak started walking off towards the direction that the girl disappeared to.

"Hey, since when did Yzak become so active in finding out about things?" Cagalli whispered as the rest of the group also started to move.

"No idea. Think something happened?" Dearka asked.

"Maybe. I was passing by, and saw Yzak and his mother through a window. They seemed to be having an important conversation." Athrun answered.

"Do you think maybe he knows something more than we do?"

"Maybe. We'll just have to see."

* * *

"Do you think she realizes that she's being followed?"

"Maybe not, because she's going through all the big, obvious streets."

"Wait, doesn't that imply that she knows something's going on?"

"I don't know, stop giving me a headache!"

The group argued, trying to figure out just where the girl was headed, and what motives she had. So far, during the fifteen minutes that they had stealthily tracked her, nothing important came up, frustrating the group.

"Hey, she's going into that building!" Miriallia pointed out.

"Hm...maybe a hideout?" Cagalli guessed.

"I don't think so. It's way too out in the open for it to be something like that." Athrun reasoned.

"Maybe that's what she wants us to think."

"You people need to stop thinking up ridiculous theories and concentrate more on following her without getting caught!" Yzak glared at them, clearly annoyed.

"Sheesh..." Dearka murmured, earning a look from Yzak.

"All right, shall we go in?" Cagalli asked, approaching the double-doors first.

"I'm assuming that's a rhetorical question." Yzak retorted, going inside.

"What's his problem today?" Cagalli murmured. "It's as if...hey, what the heck is going on in this place?" The group's eyes went wide, seeing the huge crowds of people crowding inside.

"All right people, single file, no pushing!" An usher at the front yelled.

"Huh? Where's everyone going?" Cagalli asked, completely confused.

"Move it people! We don't have all day you know. The forum has to start sometime." The usher remarked as he pushed the group inside another set of double-doors.

"Forum? What..."

The group's mouths gaped open, seeing the hundreds, no, thousands of people, their age, sitting in the stands, focusing their attentions on the stage-like setting below in the center.

"How are we going to find her in here?" Miriallia asked, overwhelmed by the numbers, yet at the same time a bit curious about the event going on.

"Well, we're going to have to try..." Cagalli started, until she got cut off by the speakers which were projecting the voices of the people in the center.

"So who is better? Natural or Coordinator?"

"Coordinators most likely. After all, why would we have bothered to create them in the first case if the results weren't satisfactory?"

"But you realize that in the long term..."

The group stopped in their tracks, absorbed by the discussion. What sort of debate was this?

"Both positions are not practical." A new voice entered the discussion, causing the group to try to look closer at the newcomer.

"It's that girl!" Cagalli managed to whisper.

"And why is this not practical?" One of the other debaters asked the blond-haired girl.

The girl sighed. "Because you're not taking into account that every action and inaction has a price." Murmurs spread across the forum. The girl continued. "Yes, in a sense, Coordinators have advantages. They're generally faster, smarter, and basically immune to deadly diseases. However, because they are _so _precise, _so _accurate, that they sometimes become predictable. The variability of chance applies more to a Natural than a Coordinator." She started to look sorrowful. "And of course, the ultimate price being that in the long run..."

"So what should this country do about it then?" One of the other debaters sneered.

The girl stared, trying hard not to display annoyance. "The main approach would be to have a balance."

"The old concept of yin and yang? Oh please!" A debater snorted.

"It's not yin and yang." The girl continued, although straining to keep from yelling. "It's not good vs. evil. You can't label a group one or the other. Both concepts are present in both groups."

"Then you're saying that we should let the Purists do as they please?!"

"I never implied anything of that sort! Where did you get that conclusion? And in that case, what about Blue Cosmos? Many lives were lost because of them too." The girl argued.

"What are you anyways? A Natural or a Coordinator?"

The girl stood up, her anger evident by now. "That's an irrelevant question! Besides does that really matter that much? What if I was a Natural? What if I was a Coordinator? Does it really change what I said so far? No it doesn't. If the people of this forum can't accept that, then I can no longer participate in it!" With that, the girl stalked off, causing people to split up, making room for her exit. Murmur spread throughout the room once again, the commotion obviously having an impact on the audience.

"Come on, let's follow." Athrun shook the rest of the group, who were still dazed by the occurrence.

"Right! She's getting away!" Cagalli yelled, running after her.

* * *

"Where is she going now?"

"No idea."

"Wait, why did she suddenly stop?" Sure enough, the girl had stopped, and just stood there for a couple seconds. Then she started running.

"She figured out that someone's following her!" Yzak yelled. "Hurry up!" With that, he ran way ahead of her, going into an alleyway.

"Come on, let's go!" Cagalli yelled, as she and Athrun ran side-by-side. Dearka and Miriallia trailed slightly behind, followed by Kira and Lacus, who both still seemed not themselves.

"Which way did they go?" Athrun asked Cagalli, seeing a split in the street.

"I don't know...let's take left!" Cagalli shouted, instantly making a decision. By the time Dearka and Miriallia got to the fork, they were long out of sight.

"I don't know...um...let's just take the right!" Dearka grabbed Miriallia's arm and started running towards the right. Kira and Lacus were too far behind to see which way they went.

When Kira and Lacus reached the split point, they stood there, not knowing what to do, and neither feeling too comfortable to speak to each other. Not wanting to be behind, Lacus picked a side and started running towards when suddenly..."Ouch!" Her ankle twisted, causing her to yelp.

Instinctively, Kira went to her side, looking concerned. Once he realized what he did, however, he took a couple steps back. "Are...are you all right?" Kira managed to say out loud.

"I'm fine." Lacus stated curtly. "Just need to...ouch!" She sat down, deciding to leave the following to the others. Kira stood there, not knowing what to do. "Aren't you going to go?"

"No." Kira answered plainly. Lacus didn't know whether to cry or smile hearing those words. Her mind went back to the incident that happened before, even before the New Year's Ball.

_(flashback)_

"Kira look! I finally made a thousand cranes!" She smiled, excited to show Kira. He definitely needed something to cheer him up.

Kira merely grinned back. "That's good Lacus."

"I couldn't have done it without you though." She encouraged, trying to get a better response out of him.

"You really couldn't have done it without me, huh?"

"What do you mean Kira?" She put down the jar full of cranes down on a chair, confused. What could he possibly be implying with that?

Kira laughed bitterly, looking outside the window. Now she truly grew concerned. He's not reverting back to his old self, is he?

"Did I even have a positive influence on anyone or anything?"

She couldn't do anything but stare at him for a few seconds. How could he say that? Didn't he realize how happy he made her feel, seeing him progress? Now it seemed as if he was getting worse. "Is there something I did wrong Kira?" She asked, hoping that the answer wouldn't be yes.

"You wouldn't really understand." Kira gave her a condescending smile. "Keep on being your innocent self Lacus. You don't want to have it destroyed, like mine." With that he left the room, causing her to grab hold of the chair to steady herself.

Kira didn't mean that for to hurt, did he? Of course not. He didn't realize...But the sting still lingered. She didn't understand...is that what he thought? Was that his perception of her? Is that why he seemed to continue to ignore her advice? Well then, she would have to change her approach, regardless of whether either of them would like that or not. She weakly walked out of the room, leaving behind a broken jar, with dejected cranes spread all over the floor.

* * *

"Dearka, I think we took the wrong side."

"I guess so." The two stopped to catch their breath, once they reached that conclusion.

Miriallia couldn't help but laugh, causing Dearka to stare at her incredulously. "What's so funny?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that we were basically running for our lives and yet we have no idea where the others are."

"Or maybe it's the fact that this is bringing in some excitement into your life?" Dearka smirked.

Miriallia couldn't help but smile back at this. He did have a point. Ever since she and Dearka decided to just be friends for the time being, she felt as if a huge burden was lifted from her shoulders. And surprisingly enough, since then, she felt more comfortable around him, and if anything, became closer to him. Of course, this might be too much to assume after just one day, but she already felt as if there was progress. Although somewhere in the back of her head, a voice occasionally told her that this was just another of Dearka's strategies, but for some reason, this time that voice became so much easier to ignore.

"You want to rest for awhile? I'm sure that one of them will eventually catch up to the girl." Dearka asked, causing her to break out of her musings.

"Huh? Oh...um...well...do you think it's alright?"

"Well, it's not as if we could catch up to them now." Dearka reasoned.

"True." With that, she sat down next to him, without a hint of hesitation.

"Quite a day we're having today, aren't we?" Dearka asked.

"Well, yea. First the chase and then the forum..."

"What _did _you think about what was said in the forum?" Dearka suddenly asked.

"Well, I..." Miriallia stopped, not knowing quite what to say. No one had ever bothered to ask her about anything political or ethical before, so she didn't know quite how to respond.

"You don't need to think up fancy words or complicated concepts. Those would probably just confuse me anyways. Just tell me plainly what you think." Dearka smiled, seeing her nervousness.

"Well, I guess..." She started, getting the courage. "I guess what the girl said was correct. After all, there should be balance...by the way, what was she saying before she got caught off?"

"Well, I can't assume completely because she didn't really get to say, but I'm assuming she was stating how Coordinators..." A loud thud echoed throughout, causing both to quickly stand up, and try to locate where the sound came from.

* * *

"I can't believe we lost Yzak and the girl!" Cagalli yelled, frustrated.

"I guess they were too fast for us, or rather, too much ahead of us." Athrun tried to calm her down.

"Where is Kira by the way? Isn't he the ultimate Coordinator, or something like that? Why is _he _the one that's lagging behind?"

"Cagalli, you know that he's not quite himself right now." Athrun managed to say.

"He and Lacus! Sometimes I just want to bang his head on something!" Cagalli shouted. "Why does everything have to be so complicated? I...I just..." Her voice started to sadden. "I want everyone to be alright! I don't want people to be hurt anymore! The war's over for crying out loud! Why do people still have to..." Her voice became muffled, as Athrun suddenly held her in his arms, as close to him as possible.

"Things are not always as easy as we want them to be, are they?" Athrun smiled, trying to comfort her. "But then again, if you think about it, our situation was and is never quite easy either, don't you think?"

Cagalli stayed silent, staring at him for awhile. Slowly, her frown turned into a smile. "I guess you're right. But then again, neither of us ever regretted it, right?"

"Of course not." Athrun answered without hesitation.

"You better not have!" Cagalli hit him playfully. "Otherwise..." A scream was heard, not too far away.

"What in the world..."

* * *

"You're not getting away!" Yzak yelled, almost within arm range. "I don't know what you've been doing in Arabella's common room, or inside the structure for the matter, but I'm going to figure it out!"

The girl suddenly turned around, hearing his voice for the first time, completely catching him off guard. His voice almost got caught in his throat as recognition hit him. "You...you're that girl from the shuttle, aren't you..."

"Y-Yzak? What are you..." She was cut off by a loud bang. But soon she let out an ear-piercing scream as a bullet dug deeply into her left shoulder, causing blood to spill all over.

Yzak caught her before she crumbled to the ground, while attempting to figure out where the bullet came from. Unfortunately, whoever fired it had long since disappeared. Feeling the girl tense, he suddenly shifted his attention towards her. The way her jade eyes stared back at him reminded him just exactly how a certain pair of cobalt eyes glanced at him...and how the same voice..."Yzak...please..." A sudden realization hit him.

"Bella..."

* * *

Yup, chapter done!

Hopefully certain parts of this didn't turn out weird...for example, the forum part...

Hm...so that was Arabella? How? And how did the person, or rather, theorganization that shot her know? And why didn't they finish the job?

Well, not all of that would be answered in the next chapter, but it will all come up.

Speaking of the next chapter...Bella is recovering, and a lot of reflections going on...and what's this? What went on?

Lol...next time!

Oh and of course, thanks, as always! XD

By the way, once in a while the uploading mechanism decides to amuse me by messing up my documents...lol


	20. Haunting

(Sigh) finals next week and papers due this week…ugh…lol. So I decided to update this instead to get away from that for awhile…XD. (besides, I'm sure the readers have been patiently waiting for an update…lol) But enough of that…

_Angel of Dreams- _In regards to Dearka and Miriallia, well…you'll see.

_Eternal Affinity- _Well, I guess it could be funny, and I don't really take any offense with that comment, but you should watch out for the other readers! XD lol…And as for D and M, like I stated above, you'll see…

_prettynutter- _ok, here's the list, but it's a really short one, and I'm not going to go into their characteristics or anything:

_Arabella- _Princess of Icedale, main OC, basically the one in charge of everything.

_Elise-_ (Natural) Arabella's best friend (well, best is very subjective)

_Nora- _(Natural) Hm…I don't know exactly how to describe her, but she's basically the head advisor without an official title/station. And oh yes, Elise's grandmother.

_Ray-_ (Coordinator) Arabella's "fiancée".

_Lucia- _(Coordinator) Ray's annoying sister.

Yea, and I'm sure you could figure out the rest of the stuff by reading…XD

_Servant of GOD- _Yay! Kira's in character! Lol…And in top five? Thank you!

And thanks also to _Dark Fusion, Prayer Reverie, Kagome 1992, Prince Takeru, AnimeSiren, AsuranXKagari-Forever, M.S Arashi Sumeragi, harpies ladies, Sakura Kuonji, cherri-chan, Cherry-Blossum, _and _Kaori._

And I was trying not to take very long…lol…sorry…

Oh, and I'm going to try something new at the very last section. It's basically going to be two scenes happening at once, so the conversation with _italics_ will be between Arabella and ?, the regular font will the one with everyone else. Oh, and the italics in the first section is something completely different…Hope it doesn't get too confusing…

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**Ch. 20: Haunting**

_Darkness, everywhere. Only silhouettes, surrounding her, spinning…Fear and pain, fear and pain, over and over again. Tears spilt, again and again, not just from one person as well. And they relished every moment of it. What they enjoyed even more…_

_"You piece of filth!" Another kick was delivered to her abdomen, causing her to crumble on the floor once again. He proceeded to crush her fingers, stepping on them, causing blood to seep out of the fragile little hand. She yelled every second the foot grinded into her hand, at the same time trying to free herself and get away._

_"Don't you dare hurt her!" A strained, yet powerful voice yelled not too far away. The figures chuckled, glaring straight at the interrupter._

_"I wouldn't do that, your _highness_." The figure sneered in amusement. "Besides, you should worry more about yourself." With that, he motioned for the other men to proceed, causing screams to echo throughout the room, making the men laugh even harder. And yes, she knew they were men. Their voices gave that much away, not to mention what they were doing to her mother._

_"No, please stop! Don't do that to mother! Please!" She pleaded, ignoring the slaps coming her way._

_"Enjoying the view?" The man addressed a third person, who was chained to the wall, unable to move an inch._

_"Bastard." He spat, his boiling anger very apparent._

_The man raised an eyebrow. "I think that word applies better to that trash on the floor, even though she may be legitimate."_

_"Don't you dare call my daughter a…" Four shots were heard, cutting him off._

_"Father!" She started crawling towards him, stopped by a man yanking at her hair._

_"Oh, no no, we can't have you doing that." The man smirked. "But I would love to have you continue watching, little princess." With that, he forcefully lifted her chin, causing her to get a clear view of both her parents, at least clear enough to see her parents' states. "Wouldn't you love to take me apart limb for limb right now?" He teased, seeing tears fall from her eyes again. "Too bad you can't see us clearly enough to recognize us later on, even if by some miracle you manage to get out of here alive." Suddenly, he dragged her to a chair, motioning for the others to tie her down. "You see," the man continued, motioning towards her father, "we wouldn't have been so hard on your father, even the traitor to the Coordinators that he is. But then he had to create such an adomination." He gave her a hard slap on her face. "You."_

"_It's because of you that he's going to die a very painful and slow death." He proceeded to collect blood dripping from her father and mother, and then he approached her once again. "Did you think the beatings were all you were going to get? Well, I have something else for you too."_

_She began to scream as the crimson liquid started to be poured all over her. Again and again, until she started to choke, as the liquid started to be shoved down her throat…_

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"No! Stop! No more!"

"Arabella!"

"No, please just end this! I can't take it anymore!"

"Bella! Wake up!"

She suddenly opened her eyes widely, hearing the familiar voice. Her silver hair spilled over her eyes, causing her to realize that her appearance turned back to normal, and that she was in a bed, Yzak watching over her…

"Yzak?" She sat up, surprised that he bothered to sit next to her, waiting. But then again, he was the last thing she saw before she passed out.

"We're back at your place." Yzak explained, seeing confusion in her eyes. "Lie back down." He ordered, helping her, causing her to blush slightly. "Luckily it's only a shoulder wound. You probably passed out because of shock rather than because of the pain. And I thought you were stronger than that." He added at the end with a smirk.

"Well, I guess it's all thanks to you that I made it back safely." She gave him a wink. "Besides, only someone like you would be smart enough to realize that taking me to a hospital would cause quite a commotion."

Yzak laughed. "Playing with my vanity huh? You think you have the leisure to be humorous in the current situation?"

Arabella smirked. "I would like to ask you the same question."

Both laughed, until Arabella started to cough. "Wait here, I'll get you a glass of water." Yzak offered, and stepped out of the room before Arabella could protest.

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"Do you think she's alright?" Cagalli asked, as she picked off the bloody shirt that Athrun had discarded previously. Yzak and Athrun had been the ones carrying Arabella, with Cagalli supporting, since they were the ones closest to the scene. They met the others one the other way back, who were equally shocked at what happened. Since then, she had to inform Nora to secretly call in a doctor. After that, she had been held back by Elise, who had been terrified, pestering Cagalli with questions until she was allowed to see how her best friend was doing herself. So she hadn't been able to see Athrun again until now.

"She should be, it's only a shoulder wound after all." Athrun replied.

"How can you be so cruel! First you agree with Yzak to not take her to a hospital, and now you…" She was cut off as Athrun laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Calm down Cagalli, everything's alright." He tried to reassure her.

"I…I know…" She suddenly burst out crying, propping down on the bed.

Athrun sat down next to her, putting his arms around her, trying to comfort her. He knew just how vulnerable Cagalli really was, regardless of the tomboy exterior she put on. And he still loved her for it. But she had been a lot more emotional lately, and that had begun to worry him. "I'm sorry Cagalli…I just wanted to keep you from worrying."

"I could take the truth you know." Cagalli stated flatly, although she seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"But technically that is the truth. With the way the situation is going, I don't think anyone has time to mope around wasting time." Athrun answered, trying to sound truthful yet not hurting her at the same time. Luckily, Cagalli resigned.

"I…I guess you're right. Sorry for not realizing it earlier."

"You don't need to apologize. At least, never to me." He said softly, while leading her to her room. "Come on, you need some rest."

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"They look so good together, don't they?" Miriallia commented, looking in at Yzak and Arabella from outside the display window. The two inside were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.

"Yea." Dearka replied, almost longingly. And he thought that Yzak was the one that had women problems…

"And to think that this happened…so much must be going through his head…"

"It was only a shoulder wound." Dearka wanted to say, but shut his mouth before the words came out. He understood. After all, if Miriallia ever got hurt, even just a scratch, he would go ballistic.

"Why do people have to go on hating? Why can people ever forgive and just accept?" Miriallia suddenly burst out. "It would only result in more deaths. Deaths of loved ones…" She stared far off.

She was thinking of Tolle again. Dearka knew right away. The way she stammered showed all. She's never going to forget him, is she? But then again, asking her to do that might be a bit selfish. Asking a person to forget about something like that…was just asking too much. But Dearka had another approach. He was going to beat Tolle. To beyond Miriallia's expectations. He was going to make a bigger impact on Miriallia than Tolle ever did. This was the only way for her to ever consider loving him. Even if he had to just be friends with her for now. Besides, it seemed to be working quite well. Now that he thought about it, Miriallia hadn't really mentioned Tolle for a quiet awhile until just right at the moment. And another thing…Tolle ended up making her sad. He was going to make her laugh…

"Come on Miriallia, cheer up. Sure, there will always be stubborn people, but there are people like us that are willing to fight back." He started, attempting to make her feel better.

"Well, if you put it that way…"

"By the way, do you really want to know what I used to sleep with?" Dearka continued, seeing that it was working, although in an afterthought he wanted to smack himself for bringing it up.

"What did you sleep with?" Miriallia asked, suddenly curious.

"Well, you see…" Dearka stammered, suddenly getting nervous. "Um…I…I used to clutch my pink baby blanket with little teddy bears, every time I went to bed." He stayed silent to hear Miriallia's reaction. Miriallia's face remained expressionless for a few seconds, and then, not being able to hold it anymore, she burst into laughter.

"Oh. My. Goodness!" She couldn't stop laughing, much to Dearka's discomfort. "A teddy bear blanket. A _pink _teddy bear blanket…"

"Well…when my mother went to buy a blanket they ran out of other colors…" Dearka tried to justify himself.

"Sure they did." Miriallia teased.

"Hey!"

"I was just joking."

"Well, at least Athrun's pajamas beat all." Both started snickering, the previous depressing mood forgotten.

"By the way, didn't Yzak have some secret too?" Miriallia asked.

"Uh…yea…But don't expect me to tell you that one, because he's going to murder me if I say anything. You'll have to get him to say it himself."

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"Was I being too hard on Kira?" Lacus asked herself. She took at glance that Kira, who happened to be in the lounge with her, although standing far away, not paying attention to her. Or seemingly so. She knew he was watching her. And he knew she was watching him. Yet neither said a word to one another.

"This game has to end." Both thought. Yet neither bothered to directly approach the other.

Lacus let out a sigh. Maybe she was just being stubborn. Kira did need his time and space to recuperate, and she was more than willing to give him that. The problem was that he _wasn't _recuperating. If anything, he seemed to get worse. In a sense he was the one being stubborn, not her.

She told herself not to blame Fllay. Yet sometimes she just wanted to scream, "What the heck did you do to my Kira, you…" She managed to restrain herself at the last minute. There was no point in blaming the dead. After all, they were, dead. Yet sometimes the bitterness surfaced, and yes, even a bit of jealousy. Why did that girl affect him so much? It was almost as if her spirit possessed him.

Mostly it was because she felt so helpless. She didn't seem to be giving him anything helpful. Maybe she was making him feel even guiltier? That might be it. Then maybe it was a good thing that she was staying away. Yes, that was it. Let Kira decide what he wants to do.

But what if he does decide to leave her? She shuddered at the speculation. Yes, what if he never changes? What would she do then? It was a frightful perspective, yet at this present situation, a very possible one.

She looked at him once again, and a decision came to mind. Yes, she would love him. Even if he didn't return it, she would love him. Silently if she must. Her heart and mind would not change. So how their relationship would end up will depend on…

"Well Mr. Yamato, it's all up to you."

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Yzak balanced the water jug and the cup on the tray easily as he proceeded to where Arabella stayed. Why was he doing this? Usually he would just scoff at being so _caring_. That reminded him, since when did he stop cringing when he thought about the word _care_? He really needed to get a better hold of himself…The next minute he barely missed crashing into Athrun.

"Watch it Zala!" He yelled angrily.

"You should watch where you're going too." Athrun retorted back.

"Hm." Yzak walked past, not wanting to deal with this right now. He had enough things to worry about right now.

"By the way Yzak, could you ask why and how she was in a disguise?" Athrun asked. Yzak stopped in his tracks. Indeed, why was she in a disguise? He started to picture her once again. Golden hair instead of silver. Jade instead of cobalt…He suddenly turned around, startling Athrun.

"Give this to Arabella for me." With that, he handed the befuddled Athrun the tray, and hurried towards the communication room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"But Yzak, I don't know where that could be." Ezaria told Yzak.

"I don't know either mother, but please try to find it and send it to me." Yzak asked.

"Are you sure you don't have any idea where you put it?" Ezaria asked her son once again.

"No, I'm sorry mother. You're going to have to search for it." Yzak smirked.

"Through your messy room and closet? This is going to take awhile…" She smirked back.

"You're the only one that could take on the job." Yzak joked.

"All right, I'll find it, if it's so important to you. But just out of curiosity, why are you looking for it now?"

"Just a feeling mother, just a feeling."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Feeling satisfied, he proceeded to head to his original destination. He stopped, seeing that the lounge door was slightly ajar, and people were talking. He poked his head in to see the people inside, and found everyone except Arabella and Athrun. He was about to say something when…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_Thank you Yzak…" Arabella stopped, surprised at finding Athrun instead._

_"Yzak suddenly remembered something to do, so he asked me to bring this to you instead." Athrun explained._

_"Well, if he was busy, he needn't have bothered…"_

_"You know that he's going to be bothered if he wants to. Besides, what could he possible be busy with at this time?" Athrun smiled, pouring her a glass and handing it to Arabella._

_"I guess so." Arabella reasoned, taking a sip of water._

_"By the way Arabella, if you don't mind asking, how did you manage to put on that disguise?"_

"Well, if humans could manipulate genes, it's not that hard to believe that very natural looking disguises could be made." Nora, who also happened to be in the lounge answered. Then she looked towards the door. "Yzak, you've been standing behind that door long enough. Do come in." Seeing that he had been caught, Yzak entered, trying not to show that he was embarrassed about getting caught.

"So how did she do it?" Cagalli asked.

_"Some color contacts, hair-color altering spray…you get the point." Arabella answered._

"But she wasn't able to change her voice." Yzak remarked, surprising everyone. "That's when I started putting things together. Although I wasn't completely certain until I got closer to her."

"Very perceptive." Nora acknowledged.

_"I knew something seemed familiar." Athrun confessed._

_"Well, most people don't notice anything." Arabella explained. "Even Elise probably had no clue about it until now. And I did bump into her quite many times in disguise before."_

_"I see, but why a disguise in the first place?"_

"Well, as you noticed, it would have been very controversial if Arabella voiced her opinions so openly as herself. So she once in awhile she puts in a disguise to go and state her thoughts openly without having to but the state in jeopardy. It's one of her outlets to release pressure building up inside her.

_"But is that just it, there seems to be more to it." Athrun prodded, not satisfied with the answer. He knew there was another reason behind it._

_"Well, actually…" Arabella hesitated. "It was because I wanted to see my cousin…"_

"Cousin?" Everyone's eyes went wide, with the exception of Nora and Yzaks'.

"Elise, you never told us Arabella had a cousin." Miriallia and Lacus reproached.

"I…well…I didn't know either!" Elise stammered, surprised herself.

"And you're supposed to be her best friend." Yzak and Dearka added dryly.

"Don't blame Elise too much." Nora started to explain. "No one except Arabella, her parents, her father's direct relatives, and I ever knew about her cousin, or who he is."

"I knew about her cousin." Yzak stated.

_"So Yzak knew about your cousin? Does he know who it is too?"_

Yzak hesitated before answering. "No…I don't." He waited until everyone's attention diverted away from him. "At least not yet…"

_"I see, so you don't really want to tell me much right?"_

_"I'm sorry Athrun." Arabella said sincerely. "But you know that I can't…"_

_"It's fine." Athrun reassured her with a smile. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to." With that, he headed for the door. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing. You need your rest and I kept pestering you with questions."_

_"Oh, not at all." She smiled. "Thank you Athrun."_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Chapter done…

Hm…what can I say…

Was Yzak being a bit too nice? XD and I got the feeling that some of the characters were being a bit OOC. The ending didn't seem to be that great either…And the nightmare scene, was it a bit too much? Also dealing with that, a lot of stuff that happened were very obvious, but some stuff were implied. I'm not sure if I implied everything correctly, or if anyone caught everything…Tell me what you think!

Up next, the girls try to do something about the Kira and Lacus situation, while the boys talk about their suspicions. And what is this that Elise stumbles onto?

Hm...and it seems that my laptop something wrong with my laptop at the moment and it doesn't seem to allow the horizontal lines...sorry...i'll just have to use the "x"s instead...lol

And of course, thanks for reading!


	21. For Elise

Time for an update! (Even though I should be studying…XD)

_Prince Takeru-_ Yes, the nightmare scene was horrible. The way it was written originally was actually worse, but I realized that I had to stick to the PG-13 rating. XD (didn't want to change it to R). It still served its purpose though, so I'm not complaining much. After all, it's pretty sadistic to do that to a nine or ten year old…

_rnal- _Yes, I know that things are pretty much straightforward right now, even some parts getting extremely boring. But it's probably like that because I _do_ plan things ahead. Since I do that, I usually hint at all the twists before they happen. Most likely that's why they're really obvious. It's mainly because I'm afraid that if something jumps out of nowhere, it would be "Huh? Where did that come from? It makes no sense!" But most likely I'm overdoing it with the hinting, so I'll minimize it from now on. Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately there probably won't be anything too drastic for a little while, because I still need to establish a couple things before. So please be patient!

Thanks also to _Prayer Reverie, Kagome1992, AnimeSiren, Eternal Affinity, Angel of Dreams, Dark Fusion, Kaori, M.S Arashi Sumeragi, rath lover, harpies ladies, cherri-chan, ice lolly, random person, _and _hitomi-san._

You know, usually there's more things I want to say in the responses, and also respond to more people, and maybe there's more questions that people want to ask that they don't put in the reviews, but I think my author notes take up enough space as it is. Maybe I should join a forum or something and respond more there…

By the way, this chapter is probably going to be a bit shorter, and might even feel like a filler chapter, so apology in advance…

* * *

**Ch. 21: For Elise**

"Hey Arabella, everything going alright?"

"Your arm's better right?"

Arabella couldn't help but smile at their concern. "Everything's alright girls. It's only a shoulder wound after all."

"Well, I guess…but we were worried more about what happened the day after." Elise replied. "You know, after you and Yzak talked, you just walked back to your room and locked yourself inside for a couple days or so. What happened?"

Arabella laughed. "Oh, that…Well, he told me that I should stop being a baby and go back to my duties."

"That jerk!" Cagalli yelled, indignantly. "Can't he be more considerate for once? I should show him a piece of my mind…"

Arabella continued to laugh, while trying to calm down Cagalli. "Oh, don't worry about it. He was right after all. I have been neglecting my duties for awhile. So I locked myself in my room to catch up."

"Well, if you're sure your health won't be affected…" Elise continued, concerned.

"Like I said before, don't worry about it. I could take care of myself." Arabella gave them a reassuring smile. "By the way, where's Lacus?" She asked, suddenly changing the subject. The other three girls started to look away.

"Well, you see…" Cagalli started.

"Things got worse, didn't it?" Arabella remarked quietly.

"Yea…" Miriallia replied. "It's mostly because of Kira. I always did see him depressed whenever I bumped into him in Archangel, but I always thought that he would get better." She sighed once before continuing. "You know, he wasn't always like this…back when we were in Helliopolis…well, we were just regular kids…" She started to drift off, thinking back to those days.

"Hey, Miriallia, you ok?" Cagalli asked gently.''

"Huh? Oh…um…yea." Miriallia replied, coming back to the present.

"Anyways…so girls, should we step up?" Cagalli asked, obviously with another scheme in her mind.

"Are you sure it's alright to interfere?" Elise and Arabella asked. "I mean, this is something that they should work out for themselves."

"Well, I'm sick and tired of the way that my younger brother is acting." Cagalli remarked, and Miriallia nodded in agreement. "Besides, a little nudge won't hurt."

* * *

Kira found himself walking inside one of the many libraries within the place. Not that he was much of a scholar. He had more immediate issues to deal with, and obviously didn't have time to get cozy and read a good book. But at this time, he just wanted to hide. Just to bury himself among the books, get lost within the stacks of bookcases. He didn't want fresh air. Surprisingly, that made him feel more miserable. He didn't want to be out in the open. He wanted to hide.

"Hey you."

Kira raised his head, surprised at finding the owner of the voice inside as well. "Dearka?" Sure enough, Dearka sat next to a table nearby, book in hand.

"Yea, that's me. What about it?" Dearka quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't really expect to find you here…" Kira stammered, not quite sure what to say. I mean, come on now, Dearka in a library? He didn't really know the guy very well, but somehow the picture didn't quite seem to fit.

"Yea, and I don't really think you're the reading type either." Dearka responded.

"Uh, ok…" Kira was at a loss of words. After all, it's not as if he ever directly talked to the guy before. He didn't know what to say.

"So let me guess. You're here because you're having trouble with a certain pink-haired songstress." Dearka remarked.

"Huh? What are you talking…" Kira rambled, surprised at being found out so easily.

Dearka rolled his eyes. "Even a child could tell that you're having serious problems with her." Seeing Kira stay silent, he added. "At least you have a woman who will continue to love you no matter what." He sounded a bit bitter, something Kira managed to catch.

"Why would she still love me?" Kira asked. "I basically disregarded her for awhile. Besides, she seems to be ignoring me and trying everything possible to avoid me."

"Shouldn't that imply that you should chase after her while you can?"

"Maybe she's better off without me…"

Dearka stood up, exasperated. "Just listen to yourself! Do you have any idea how pathetic you sound? Is this the infamous pilot of the Strike and Freedom that we had so much trouble with? I'm starting to lose all respect for you!"

"I'm surprised that you even had respect for me in the first place." Kira retorted.

Dearka shrugged. "A genuine soldier will always have respect for another brilliant soldier, even if the other soldier is in the opposing side. Even though hatred probably clouds most of it, underneath, there's always respect."

"I was technically not a soldier until later on." Kira added.

"Like you said, it's a technicality." Dearka retorted.

Both stayed silent for awhile, unsure of what to say next. "But I can't forget…" Kira started, bringing them back to the original subject.

Dearka looked as if he wanted to knock some sense into Kira. "Do you honestly think she's asking you to forget? I'm sure Lacus knows better than that. Trust me, if someone said that to any of us, whether it be Lacus, Athrun, Yzak, and such, and even me, we would get angry and tell the person how ignorant they are."

"Then what does she mean?" Kira asked, confused.

"She's basically asking you to accept the past and instead deal with the present and future." Dearka said, trying to figure out if there was any clearer way to state it so that Kira could finally understand.

"But it's not going to happen in just one day." Kira protested.

Again, Dearka couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I'm sure she understands that."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Kira asked, getting equally frustrated.

"Well, at least you can apologize." Dearka suggested.

"Do…do you think that might work right now?"

Dearka shrugged, "It wouldn't hurt to try, would it?" With that, Dearka started walking out. Kira stayed silent for a few seconds before he opened his mouth again.

"Dearka."

"Yea?"

"Good luck with Miriallia."

Dearka couldn't help but smile. "Thanks." With that, he closed the door behind him. After walking past a few corridors, he met the three girls that had asked him the favor in the first place.

"So did you manage to get him to his senses?" Cagalli asked.

Dearka shrugged. "Maybe. But don't you think the plan was a bit too simple, and are you sure I was the right one to do it?"

"Sometimes the simple plans work out the best." Arabella replied. "Besides, with you, it probably seemed like a random encounter. If Athrun approached him, he would probably realize that something was going on, and Yzak…well, he's not exactly the most patient person…"

"I see your point." Dearka replied. "Well, hopefully I managed to be some help…"

"Thank you so much Dearka." Miriallia said, smiling.

"Anytime. I'll do anything to help." Dearka replied, directing his answer mostly to Miriallia. The other two gave each other knowing glances.

* * *

"Come on Lacus, Kira's probably going to make his move soon!" Cagalli yelled, dragging Lacus to a certain location.

"Are you four certain that this is going to work?" Lacus asked, doubtful.

"Well, it's worth a try at least, right?" Elise gave a wink. "Oh, and don't worry. I'll put this where he can find it."

"Besides, if think he's going to realize that this is going to be a setup, don't worry about it. You know how dense he could be sometimes." Cagalli remarked.

"Well, if you put it that way…I guess…" Lacus stammered. "Kira, don't disappoint me."

* * *

"Why are you moping around?"

Athrun turned around, not expecting to find Yzak there, smirking at him. "What's it to you?" He replied, not particularly caring.

"Never thought you would be having woman problems, Zala." Yzak remarked, as he made himself comfortable in one of the chairs. "Don't take that as a compliment though." Yzak added hastily.

Athrun smirked. "As if I would ever expect one from you." He in turn sat across from Yzak. "And for your information, I'm not having problems with Cagalli. I'm just worried about her."

"Hence, you're having problems with her." Yzak finished. "What else could be considered a 'problem'?"

"And since when have you become the expert on relationships?" Athrun retorted. Seeing that Yzak was at a loss of words, he continued, smiling. "Besides, the ones that are having problems are my most likely future brother-in-law, a blonde-haired ZAFT, and a certain hot-tempered…"

"I'm not here to discuss relationships with you at the moment." Yzak hastily changed the subject.

"Oh, then what did you particularly want to talk to me about?" Athrun asked, obviously playing with Yzak.

Yzak snapped. "You know exactly what I want to talk about Zala, so stop playing games with me!"

Athrun couldn't help but smirk. "If you insist."

"It's about Ray…" Yzak looked up, seeing that Athrun continued to have the smirk on, and didn't seem to want to interrupt him at any point. "You would think that after his _fiancée_ got injured, he would come rushing in to see her. But we had no trace of him for almost a week." Then he added as an afterthought, which he regretted right after. "Of course, it's not that I mind…And stop giving me that look!"

"Oh, and why wouldn't you mind that Ray isn't here?" Athrun started to tease.

"Well, would you like Lucia to come and breathe down our necks?" Yzak shouted defensively. The two suppressed an involuntary shudder.

"Okay, you got me there." Athrun conceded. "But you seem more worried than anyone else. Are you sure you're not being partial towards…"

"You talked to her too!" Yzak remarked, trying to find an escape.

"Yea, but only because you made me. Besides, I only asked her questions about the incident. Can friends not be caring?"

"Well then…um…that's my case too!" Yzak mentally smacked himself as those words came out. He just dug himself into a hole.

Athrun looked up, pretending to be surprised. "The unfeeling, mask-wearing Yzak Jule actually caring? Next thing you know, PLANT is going to fall on earth!"

"Stop twisting my words around!" Yzak yelled by this time clearly trusted and embarrassed.

"All right, all right." Athrun stated, already having received his enjoyment for the day. "But I do see what you mean…Ray…I don't really trust him. He may seem nice, but there's something…unnerving about him."

"My thoughts exactly." Yzak agreed. "So we have a consensus to watch out for him?"

"Yes."

* * *

Kira walked towards Lacus's room. "Just an apology…just start with that." With his mind made up, he slowly opened the door. She wasn't there. Sighing, he tried to figure it out. Where could she be? He then noticed a note on the table. To Kira, it said. He picked it up, and read it's contents:

_Apology accepted. Meet me in the garden, next to the fountain._

He sped on his way down there. Only when he spotted her silhouette did he slow down. The wind blew past them, as they both stood there, silent.

"Kira…" Lacus broke the silence.

"Lacus, I didn't decide yet." Kira decided to state out flatly. There was no point in hiding it from her.

"Then why are you here?"

"I…I just want to apologize." Kira stammered. He waited for her response.

"And that's all I expected." Lacus smiled, reassuring. She took a couple steps towards him. "It won't be the same as before until you decide. That much can't change. But at least…let me help you."

* * *

She put the note in Lacus's room, and then went on her way to meet the others. But then she passed by the door to Arabella's common room. She couldn't help herself. Slowly she entered, and then breathed a sigh of relief after realizing that no one detected her. The next minute, she ran up one of the double stairs that lead to Arabella's room. She gaped in surprise as she walked inside. It was a mess! She really needed to take a picture of this. Since when did Arabella become so messy? Stacks of papers were all over her desk, floor, and even her bed. Well, then again, it's not her fault that so many things had to be taken care of in order to rule a country, now was it?

In order not to step on the papers on the floor, Elise maneuvered around them, but accidentally knocked down a pile on the desk. "Oops!" She remarked, as she started picking the papers up. "Bella's so going to kill me if she finds out!" She started to put the pile together again when something caught her eye. "Wait…is this the Shantela Neutrality Treaty?" She stopped organizing the papers and instead focused on the paper. "Yea…I think it is…" Elise couldn't believe it. No matter what she tried, she could never get her hands on any of the Icedale documents, copy or original. And now she was standing here, with a copy of the Shantela Treaty. She had to blink a couple times to make sure that it was there.

"I can't believe I found a copy!" She yelled ecstatically. "Okay, so document, Shantela Treaty, date…" She paused. "Wait a minute, what?!!" She looked at the date closely again. "But…but…" This was not making sense. The treaty was signed seven years ago. Not two or one, as most people and herself had been informed. "I thought it had to do with the war…" She looked through the rest of the documents in her hand. "There's one dated five years ago, three years ago, a year ago…" Elise was at a loss of words. "Which one's the real one?" She looked at the seven year old one once again. Her mind went back to what happened then, the scene she witnessed… "Is this why her parents died?"

She quickly took the document and made a copy of it. This way, Bella wouldn't know…She stopped herself. Wait, was this right? She put a hand on the copies. True, she's trying to help out her friend, but there was a line to how much she could interfere. Was she crossing that line? After all, in an objective perspective, she would technically be stealing a document. In once sense, that could be considered as treason. But she really wanted to help. Just like how Bella used to always be there for her…

_"La-di la-di-da…" She skipped around happily in the garden, looking at the flowers. "They're so pretty!" She exclaimed, as she ran towards the red roses. "I want…ouch!" Tripping on a rock, she fell forward, skidding, her clothes getting covered in mud. "Ouch…" She repeated again, seeing her wrist bleed. Slowly she got up, and started to go back inside, when she saw a crowd coming towards her. "Oh no…"_

_"Oh look! It's the ditzy girl!" A particularly annoying voice remarked. Only one person could possess such an annoying voice…_

_"I'm not ditzy Lucia!" She protested. "I just happened to fall."_

_"Exactly." Lucia retorted, as if what she said was the most obvious thing in the world. "You fell. Which means you're naturally ditzy, clumsy…"_

_"No I'm not! Anyone could fall and trip once in a while!" She protested._

_"Sure, and who else would that anyone be?" With that the crowd laughed, causing her to become extremely embarrassed. Lucia suddenly had a more malicious look on her face, if that was possible. "This is why no one wants to play with you. You always ruin things…"_

_"Hey, there you are Elise!" Everyone turned around to face the newcomer. _

_She couldn't have been any happier at the time. "Bella!"_

_Arabella laughed. "Of course! Who else could it be?" With that, Arabella proceed to lead her inside. "Now once we get you cleaned up, and take care of that wrist, why don't we go and take a look at that doll you always wanted? Mother said I could go out to the city as long as Nora and someone else would come with me."_

_"You…you want me to come with you?" Elise stammered, disbelieving._

_Arabella flashed her a brilliant smile. "Of course. Who else would I be asking?"_

She grabbed the copies and headed towards the door.

_A single red rose and a music CD…those were the first things she received. "For Elise" it said on the cover, just like the title of the song recorded within, the song created by the genius otherwise known as Beethoven._

_And there was always more._

_She wanted to escape, she wanted to say no, but she couldn't help it._

_Trust…_

_Everything was going to be alright…_

She walked out, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Yup, that's the end. 

So how was it?

Okay, maybe the conversation between Dearka and Kira was a bit weird…(here I go worrying about being in character again…)

Oh and if you're confused about where the whole Shantela treaty thing came from, I mentioned it a couple chapters back. Not much about it though...

And by the way, just to clarify if there's confusion, the last section has two flashbacks. Actually, one flashback and one reflection. They're different. (even situation wise) Oh, and well, remember I said I was going to minimize the hinting? Well…I guess I sort of broke that rule a bit with the last bit of the reflection. It's actually a big hint about something in the later chapters…ok, here I am giving away too much again…must stop…lol.

Next, Ray and Lucia _do _stop by (oh joy), and well, I think that basically explains everything…XD

Thanks for reading!


	22. Breaking Point

Merry Christmas! XD (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc.)

A perfect gift for me would be to get at least 500 reviews by the time I finish this story (yes, I know it's not going to happen, so that's why I said _perfect_)

Now for the reviews:

_Eternal Affinity- _Yes, "For Elise", or rather "Fur Elise", is a song written by Beethoven (piano piece). Personally I prefer some of his Sonatas, but the song served its purpose for this fic. XD

_M.S Arashi Sumeragi- _Yea…OO…lol

Thanks also to _AnimeSiren, kiraLi, King Arthur6687, Absolute-Darkness, DarkFusion, Dark Devotions, Kausi, harpies ladies, Angel of Dreams, Kaori, Kagome1992, yvonna milhouse, xxravenwingxx, _and _kawaii-ish._

Hm…I wonder how you'll like this chapter…It's…well…interesting…

* * *

**Ch. 22: Breaking Point**

"It's your move Yzak."

"I know." Yzak groaned inwardly. So far the score was tied, 2-2. This was the game that would determine the winner. Not that she had the advantage…yet, but the fact that he didn't have an upper hand either irked him.

"Strategy not going so well?" Arabella smirked, seeing Yzak's grim expression.

"I would like to ask you the same thing." He retorted. Arabella didn't say anything in reply, but instead smiled back. Yzak had to use every ounce of mental restraint within him not to do the same.

She fascinated him. That much he allowed himself to admit now. But the question was why. Why did she attract his attention so much? He scrutinized her carefully, as she studied her pieces. Pretty. Yes, she was pretty. But he had met prettier girls before, and they hadn't affected him the same way. If anything, he had to try not to run out of the room screaming, due to how much annoyance they caused him. No, there was something else.

"Yzak, if you don't make your move soon, I'm going to assume that you quit." She gave him a wink. "You don't want that to happen now, do you?"

"No I wouldn't." He replied back with a smirk. Wit and vivacity. Yes, that was it. Her intelligence drew him. The conversations they had never bored him. It was a game they played, just like the one in front of them. And he would never get tired of it.

"Ah, so you're going to move your bishop there." Arabella remarked. "Well then, I'll just parallel your move."

Similar, he thought. They were also very similar. True, the masks they wore were different, hers being more serene, while his…well, temperamental would be the nice way of describing his disposition. But regardless, they both hid themselves from others, and that, in its own bizarre way, gave them a connection.

"Yzak, you seem really out of it." Arabella looked at him in concern, bringing him back to reality. "You want to resume the game a bit later on?" Yzak nodded his head. Yes, that was probably a good approach. He couldn't concentrate on the pieces in front of him while having so many thoughts running in his head. And of course, losing was not an option. "Um…Yzak?" Arabella approached, putting the board aside. "Can I ask you something?"

"You already did." Yzak replied, and then mentally smacked himself for how stupid he sounded.

"Well, I wanted to know why you wanted to join the High Council." She stated nervously.

Yzak pondered over that statement. He had never given it any thought before. Why did he decide to join? "Why do you ask?"

"Well, whenever you talk about your previous military exploits, you seem so ecstatic." She began. "Yes, you do sound sad sometimes, but there's still some mixture of pride in it." She stopped for a second to take a breath. "But when you talk about being in the council, the fervor isn't as obvious." She shrugged. "Don't take it the wrong way thought. It might just be that you don't want to get into details with a foreign ruler."

"Yea…that's it." He managed to say. "But inside, he wasn't so sure.

* * *

Elise locked the door behind her. It's been at least two weeks since then. Two weeks since she walked out of Arabella's room with the copies she made. Those copies had been locked in her desk, untouched, for that long. She had half a mind to shred them, to forget their existence. But that voice, that voice kept on nagging her…

_We want to help her, don't we?_

_Isn't she friend before ruler to us?_

_Isn't there trust between us?_

Slowly, she opened the drawers. Trembling, she separated the papers by dates. She sighed once she finished. "This would do for now." She reached for the seven year old one, the earliest by date, and held it in her hands. It was pretty thick. This was going to take awhile just to read through all of this…

The last page of the treaty slipped out, causing Elise to fumble for it. "Ugh, me and my clumsiness…" She stopped, looking at the page. "Wait a minute…" She started taking out all the last pages out of the other piles. "On the first one…Arabella's signature…it's not the same one."

* * *

"Cagalli, can I ask you something?"

"Huh? Oh sure, come in." Cagalli became surprised, seeing Lacus outside her door. "So Lacus, what did you want to ask? Something about my brother, huh?" She gave her a wink.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you if you were the one that kept on 'borrowing' my blow-dryer."

"Huh? Oh, um…I have no idea what you're talking about." Cagalli stammered nervously.

"Cagalli, could you please be honest with me? I saw you take it this morning." Lacus asked patiently.

"Well…yea, so I did." Cagalli admitted finally, and then started to get defensive. "But is it really that big of a deal? I mean, I put it back…"

"Well…I would prefer you to ask first…"

"Okay, I will." With that, Cagalli turned back to do whatever she was doing before.

After taking a few seconds to register what just happened, Lacus slowly walked out, and started heading towards her room, when she accidentally bumped into Miriallia. "Oops, sorry about that Miriallia." Lacus apologized.

"Oh no, it's fine." Miriallia reassured her with a smile. "You seem a bit out of it. Anything wrong?"

"Well, actually…" Lacus started. "Does Cagalli seem a bit cold recently?"

Miriallia nodded her head. "Yea, I know what you mean. Hope she feels better soon."

"Do you think it might be because of Athrun?" Lacus asked, worried.

"No, I don't think so. Besides, if that were the reason, Kira would have taken care of it already." She added with a laugh.

"True." Lacus laughed back.

"But in all seriousness, I think it's been a bit difficult for her." Miriallia continued. "After all, the atmosphere hasn't been very positive around here recently, she's probably worried about Orb, and maybe even Lucia might have been getting to her too."

"Lucia?" But Cagalli knows better than to listen to her…"

Miriallia nodded in understanding. "I don't think Cagalli takes Lucia's words to heart, but I'm sure when she's depressed, and wants to beat herself down, she probably remembers some of the words Lucia said, as if they were replays from a tape. And Lucia _does_ sound like a broken record."

Lacus nodded in agreement. "That reminds me, not that I'm complaining of course, but where are those two?"

"Lucia and Ray?"

"Yes. You would think they would have dropped by for a visit by now."

"Now that you mention it, that does seem strange. But I guess we never know with those two." Miriallia shrugged.

"I suppose so." Lacus took a quick glance towards Cagalli's room. "I just hope that she feels better."

* * *

Elise took something out of another drawer. "Just to make sure…"

_"Excuse me, but have you seen my grandmother somewhere?" She asked one of the maids._

_"I think she's inside her room taking care of something for the princess."_

_"Oh, okay. Thanks." With that, she rushed to her grandmother's room and ran in. "Grandmother, you know that…"_

_"Elise! Don't scare me like that!" Nora remarked, surprised by Elise's sudden entrance._

_"I'm sorry grandmother." She apologized. "But I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I was leaving in four hours."_

_"Of course I do." Nora reassured her. "How can I forget? You put so little confidence in me." She continued in mock hurt._

_"Hee…well, I just wanted to make sure…" Elise replied, scratching her head. Then she noticed the pile of cards on the table. "Grandmother, what are you doing?"_

_"Oh, well I'm signing cards." Nora replied matter-of-fact._

_"But those signatures aren't yours. They're Arabella's!"_

_"Well, let me explain dear." Nora replied patiently. "Arabella does try to sign every paper, every note, every card, if she possibly can, but in reality, there's only one of her, and an infinite number of things requiring signatures. She does sign everything important, or rather to rephrase that, everything that absolutely requires _her _signature. But such things as these Christmas cards, someone else can sign them."_

_"but why would she want to send some of these Christmas cards to these people if technically she's not the one who's _sending_ them?"_

_Nora sighed. "Sometimes dear, you're too naïve when it comes to politics. There are little games present in each aspect, and one has to tread carefully amongst its players."_

_"So you're implying that she might not even want to send some of these?"_

_"Precisely."_

_"Could you teach me how to tell the difference?"_

Elise opened it up, and her eyes trailed to the last two words: Arabella Shante.

_"Hey, Bella." Elise poked her head into the room._

_"Oh, hey!" Arabella looked up from the pile of papers in front of her. Then her eyes trailed to the clock. "It's that late already? I didn't even notice…" Then she looked at Elise already. "Oh, that's right! You need to go now, don't you?" I wish you could stay longer…"_

_"Yea, me too." Elise replied, regretfully. "but my parents want me back for Christmas."_

_"I understand." Arabella smiled. "Here, this is for you." With that, she took out a wrapped box. "Merry Christmas!" She said, as she handed Elise the present._

_"Oh, thank you! And Merry Christmas to you too!" Elise replied, smiling. "Okay, I'll be going now, so see you later!" She started to walk out when Arabella stopped her._

_"Wait, you forgot the card!" With that, Arabella started to hand it to Elise, when she suddenly stopped. "Oops, forgetful me, I forgot to sign it." With that, she opened the card, and put her signature at the very end. "Sorry about that Elise. Oh, and come back soon!"_

Elise checked each of the signatures. Yes, comparison helped distinguish the real and the fake. Not that it was very obvious to anyone else of course. Just to her and grandmother. And yes, her initial assumption had been correct.

* * *

"Kira…"

"Huh?" Kira looked up to see grinning Miriallia, Dearka, and Lacus sitting across from him. "Uh…yes?" He sweat-dropped, not really sure what was going on.

"You looked bored." Miriallia remarked.

"Well, I guess so…" Kira scratched his head. Just what were they up to?

"We were wondering…"

"If you'll like to play a game with us."

"Uh…what game?" Kira asked. This was starting to sound ominous.

"Well, do you want to play?"

"Um…can I know what it is first?"

"Just come!" With that, the three dragged him off to who-knows-where.

* * *

Athrun walked around aimlessly, with nothing to do. He knocked on Cagalli's door before, but there was no answer. She was in there. He knew that. But apparently she wanted time alone, and he didn't want to intrude.

"But Lacus, I don't want to…"

"Come one Kira, it's our turn, and we don't want to ruin it now…"

"…"

Curious, Athrun paused in his wandering, and opened the door. He almost got blinded by the sight. "What…what the…"

"Oh, hey Athrun! You came just in time to see our turn." Lacus smiled, and waved him forward. "Just go around the curtain and you'll find Dearka and Miriallia on the other side."

"Uh…okay…" Athrun answered, sweat-dropping. "Um…Kira, what are you doing in a dress?"

"Well, uh…" Kira sweat-dropped in response.

"We're playing medieval charades." Lacus answered.

"…"

"It's basically charades, except instead of guessing words, you guess what's going on in the scene." Lacus started to explain. "You also dress up in the process too."

"I see…" Athrun replied, and then had to keep from snickering. "So…um…is that why Kira's dressed like a girl?"

"Well…" Lacus hesitated and then whispered into Athrun's ear. "Don't tell the anwer to Dearka and Miriallia, but our scene's about an assassin disguised as a woman in order to murder the princess, who's going to her grandmother's house to deliver some sandwiches."

"…"

"Huh, what was that Athrun?"

"You guys are really bored now, aren't you?"

"Well, we guess so…" Both Kira and Lacus smiled nervously.

"Don't ask. The other three dragged me into this," Kira informed Athrun with a low voice.

"Come on you two, that's enough time spent already!" Dearka yelled over the curtain.

"Okay, we're ready!" Lacus yelled and drew back the curtains.

"About time…" Dearka started, and then stopped. The look on Miriallia and Dearka's faces were priceless.

"Oh…my…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…"

* * *

"Arabella! Are you alright?"

Arabella and Yzak turned around sharply, surprised at the intrusion. "Ray?" Arabella remarked, confused.

"I'm so sorry!" He apologized. "I didn't know…I was out of the country, and I didn't hear about it until yesterday. So I came here as soon as possible…"

"It's been at least three weeks." Yzak remarked coldly, obviously not buying Ray's excuse.

"You're feeling better now, right?" Ray asked, completely ignoring Yzak's comment, and pampering Arabella at the same time.

Arabella looked uncomfortable. "Um…Ray, I'm alright…could you let go of me now?"

"Of course, of course." Ray backed away, scratching his head. "I guess I just got carried away."

"Obviously…" Yzak muttered under his breath.

"Let's not get all cozy now." Lucia quipped as she walked through the doorway. "But then again…" She changed her mind once she spotted Yzak.

"Hey, what's going on here?" The others came in, just in time to save Yzak. For once, Yzak felt grateful, not that he would admit it though, of course.

"Nice to see you all too." Lucia remarked, dripping with sarcasm. The others just ignored it. "By the way, where's our all wonderful Natural girl?" She commented, seeing that Cagalli wasn't present.

"Miss me?" Everyone turned around to find an irritable Cagalli glaring at Lucia.

"Of course." Lucia answered, snickering. "I do need to polish my sharp tongue, and who else would be a better subject?"

"Lucia…" Ray began to reproach her.

"Well, after all, Naturals are _naturally_ flawed." Lucia continued, completely ignoring Ray's warnings. "So it's only _natural_ that one makes fun of them."

"You know, all your lines are starting to sound old." Cagalli retorted. "Why don't you just give it up now?"

"Why should I?" Lucia stuck her tongue out. "It's fun. Besides, all I'm saying is the truth…" Lucia got cut off, as something hard hit against her face. "How dare you hit me!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "You insignificant little…"

Cagalli slapped her again. "There! I did it again! What are you going to do about it, huh?"

"Cagalli, please stop…" Athrun tried to restrain her.

"Athrun let me go!"

"Cagalli, stop!"

"See, even your boyfriend's starting to get fed up with you." Lucia sneered. "I don't blame him. After all, who'd want to stick with a clumsy, unladylike Natural like you for such a long time?"

"Lucia, that's enough!" Both Ray and Arabella yelled in unison.

"I'm sorry Arabella…" Ray profusely apologized. "It's my fault…I shouldn't have brought her here…"

"No…don't blame yourself." She replied. "But as for Lucia…" She turned a cold glare towards her. "You're not to step inside these walls ever again, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!!"

Lucia was about to argue again, when Ray dragged her away, waving good bye to everyone.

"Cagalli, are you okay?" Athrun asked, concerned, seeing her eyes darken.

"Don't listen to Lucia, she's always been that way." Elise tried to console her.

"Cagalli, be strong, okay? I'm sorry about what happened before." Lacus apologized.

"Come on, you weren't like this when you slapped _me_…" Kira attempted to cheer her up.

"You shouldn't believe in her prejudice…" Miriallia added.

"Come on, be the Cagalli that always yells at me." Dearka stated as well.

"Don't let Lucia get to you, I know you're stronger than that." Arabella remarked.

"Besides, you know she had it coming to her. She deserved it." Yzak added at the end.

"Everyone just leave me alone!" With that, Cagalli ran away, to the surprise of everyone.

* * *

"Why did you have to do that?" Lucia yelled, infuriated at her brother.

"Get in." Ray said coldly.

"Fine." Once Ray started driving, Lucia started talking again. "So why?"

"Lucia, you're an idiot."

Lucia stared at her brother incredulously, and then started sulking again. "That Natural…how dare she hit me…" The more she thought about it, the more she fumed. "She'll get her own, eventually…" Then she thought about another person who her anger was also aimed at. "That Arabella…" Who did she think she is? Okay, so Arabella _was _ruler of Icedale, and that would technically make her Arabella's subject, but that was a trivial detail.

She hated her. Yes, perhaps even more so than that Natural girl. Mixed blood. How more despicable could a thing get? And yet that mongrel had everything. Friends, money, power, and yes…Yzak. It was just unfair! She was the one that had pure blood! Yet Arabella had the perfect life, not her! She was going to set things right. She was going to maintain the truth. She was going to take everything away from the princess, and gloat over it.

* * *

Chapter done!

I don't know…I get the feeling that the chapter was…blah…

And yes, isn't Lucia evil? (selfish little…)

Ah…poor Cagalli…hope she feels better…XD

And yes, there was more ArabellaxYzak than usual. But then again, they basically had a two-chapter break, so I thought it only fair to give them some screen time.

And isn't it funny how Yzak states that he's "fascinated" by Bella, but won't downright say that he likes her? That stubborn boy…XD (But then, to cut him some slack, it hasn't been _that_ long since he's known her, and it isn't like Yzak to get all mushy either)

And the little scene with Lacus and Cagalli…well, realistically speaking, if you live with a person, and basically see them 24/7, you would start getting a bit fed up with them, even though you are good friends, right?

And the "medieval charades" thing…it is an actual game…I don't think it's actually called that though.

Okay, next up, not to spoil anything, let me just say, tension, tension, and more tension…


	23. Disputes and Citron Tea

Time for an update…

_Kausi- _Ray crying? Where?

_xxravenwingxx- _Yes, evil enough to make someone like her…that's Lucia alright. XD

_Hana Tenshi _& _Lila- _As to what's going on with Cagalli…well, she's a bit depressed (actually, stressed would be a better term). She's basically confused, (she is naïve after all) and the teasing and the gloomy atmosphere is making her feel pressured. Hope she gets out of it! XD

_Angelren- _You made a good point. But the thing is that Yzak _does_ get into Arabella's origins. It's just that it's a bit more subtle (my apologies for not making some of them clearer). The first part of chapter 4, Yzak makes a very interesting comment, in chapter 7 Yzak does seem quite amused, but it's evident that there's a superiority issue there, the sarcasm in chapter 15 when they are stuck together…there are a couple more places, but I'm just pointing out a few. But since you pointed it out, I'll try to make the conflict more obvious. Thank you! XD

_Leshyaedawnfire- _Yes, Nicol would do something like that…XD. And I'm happy that you understand that characters do need to be tortured a bit. It's not because I dislike them that I do that, but it's because I like them that I do that (I want them to improve). Nice to see someone who understands that. Thanks!

_xiaoj-_ ?…didn't see that one coming…

_Zer0 Touma- _Like you said, you couldn't really think up a decent flame. You should have waited until you did. Besides, I appreciate constructive criticism, but flames are different stories. So why are you disappointed about the fic again? Oh, that's right. The gift scenes. Has it occurred to you just how long they knew each other? Ok, so the ZAFT boys had been in the same squad…but they haven't always been buddy-buddy with each other (Athrun and Yzak for example). Besides, they recently crash landed in the middle of nowhere, got into trouble for trespassing, etc…gifts are probably not the first things in their minds. Oh, and the fic is "nice-ish", you say? Well, I suppose it's my fault for putting most of the fluff and humor in the beginning, but have you considered what's been going on in their minds? Not so nice and fluffy in there all the time. Besides, consider their ages. Will there seriously not be even a hint of fluff within their actions?

Even disregarding all of that, if you were truly attempting to give constructive criticism, it wouldn't have been too much trouble to say _why _there seemed to be no thought put in, _why _the story seems "cheesy", _why _the story seems "spontaneous", and _what _could be done to improve. In fact, even addressing _one _of these would have been satisfactory. But since that wasn't the case, it was a pointless, derogatory flame (redundancy there just in case), a waste of a review, and a waste of time.

Thanks also to _King Arthur6687, Eternal Affinity, Dark Devotions, Angel of Dreams, itsumo, Kagome1992, …, destiny gundam, Silverfox190, Absolute-Darkness, emily, Kaori, Dearbz, _and to anyone else that reviewed if I happened to accidentally miss them in the list.

Oh, and apologies to everyone else for the review section today. I didn't want to make it so long…but well, it just happened that way. I also hope that I didn't sound too bitter…I guess my patience is starting to wear thin in dealing with such things. (It might have been also because of the frustration with trying to be true to the _planned_ story while taking in suggestions…second pairs of opinions are always good though. XD)

Ok, so apologizing again and again, and finally on to the story…

* * *

**Ch. 23: Disputes and Citron Tea**

"Um…Miriallia? What are you doing?"

"Sh!!!" Miriallia warned.

"Eh?" Dearka remarked, completely clueless.

"I'm spying on them." Miriallia pointed towards Lacus and Kira, who seemed to be just out of earshot.

"Is Cagalli rubbing off on you?" Dearka asked, half jokingly, and half seriously, in fear that his statement might actually be true.

"Don't make fun of Cagalli. Especially when she's not in the best of moods right now." Miriallia reproached them.

"All right, all right." Dearka raised his hand in defeat.

"I'm really worried about her though." Miriallia continued on.

"Don't be too worried. I'm sure she'll get better. At least, as long as Athrun's in the scene." Dearka reassured her.

Miriallia laughed. "I guess so. Those two always seem to work things out."

"Good. No more worrying now." Dearka smiled. "So what were you saying about Lacus and Kira again?"

"Oh." Miriallia came back to the matter at hand. "I can't see them very well from here, but if I get any closer, they'll see me…" Dearka suddenly scooped Miriallia into his arms. "Dearka Elthman! What do you think you're doing?!" Miriallia protested, struggling to get away.

"Stop struggling, or they'll hear you."

"I could care less if they hear me now!" Miriallia yelled.

"I'm just helping you climb this tree."

"???"

Sure enough, the two of them were currently standing next to a tall tree. Dearka chuckled, as Miriallia looked away in embarrassment. "Well, you could have at least warned me before…" She stammered.

"I guess I couldn't help myself." Dearka smirked. "So, shall we?" He asked, offering his hand.

"Well…alright…" Miriallia replied, still a bit flustered. "But I'm warning you, if you try anything funny…"

"I won't, I won't…" Dearka sighed in defeat. "You should know by now that I'm quite capable of being a gentleman."

Miriallia rolled her eyes, but proceeded to allow Dearka to help her up the tree.

"All right, let's see what's going on." Dearka remarked, as he sat down on a branch, right next to Miriallia.

Sure enough, Kira and Lacus were sitting across from each other, with a round table in the middle. "More tea, Kira?" Lacus asked, holding a cute flower teapot.

"Um…sure." Kira answered.

"Tea?" Miriallia and Dearka stated in unison up in the tree. Luckily, neither of the two below heard them.

"I was originally going to get green tea, but one of the maids recommended this one." Lacus explained. "It's called citron tea. I never tried it myself either, but…"

"I like it." Kira managed to crack a smile.

"Oh, that's good." Lacus smiled happily. "I was worried that you wouldn't…"

"It's a bit sour and bitter, just like anything with citrus. Yet there's an unmistakable sweetness present." Kira sighed. "Just like so many people…"

"Bitter-sweet. All those memories are bitter-sweet." Lacus replied. "But maybe just like this tea, the sweetness might one day dispel all the bitterness…"

A loud thumps was heard, causing the two to turn around. "Stupid Dearka, why did you have to fool around…" Miriallia reproached, rubbing her hurt head.

"Um…Miriallia…" Dearka pointed behind her, right at Kira and Lacus, who stared at them, bewildered.

"I'm not done with you…oh…um…hi you two…" Miriallia stammered nervously. Seeing Kira and Lacus.

Lacus smiled. "Would you two care to join us?"

* * *

Athrun walked towards Cagalli's room. It had been three days since that incident. Of course, there had been no trace of Lucia since then, and even Ray seemed to have decided to stay away for a while lest Cagalli starts getting riled up again. Personally Athrun had nothing against Ray in terms of personality. Yet he couldn't trust him completely. His behavior seemed…well…odd sometimes. But of course, compared to Lucia, the guy was a saint.

"Cagalli, are you inside?" He gently knocked at the door.

"I think she went outside."

"Oh, hi Arabella." Athrun greeted her, as she passed by him.

"Nice day to you too." She replied back. "By the way, have you seen Nora?"

"No, sorry."

"That's fine." She replied. Pausing for a few moments, she continued. "Is Cagalli feeling better?"

"Yea, she is." He lied. There was no point in worrying others unnecessarily.

Arabella gave him a disbelieving look, but chose not to say anything more on the subject. "Well, if you see her…"

"Hey, what are you two talking about?" Arabella and Athrun turned around to see Cagalli looking at them in amusement.

"Oh, there you are Cagalli. Athrun here was looking for you." Arabella explained. "By the way, have you seen Nora anywhere?"

"Nope." Cagalli replied with a huge smile. "But I'll tell you if I see her."

"Um…okay. Thanks!" With that Arabella went on her way.

Athrun watched the exchange between those too. Cagalli seemed cheerful. Too cheerful. She was faking it.

"Cagalli, could you tell me what's on your mind?" Athrun practically begged, once Arabella was out of sight. "I don't want you to be like this…"

"I'm thinking Mr. Zala. I'll tell you when I'm good and ready." Then she suddenly turned back into her happy mode. "I saw the others doing something outside. Let's go check it out!"

Athrun followed along, nodding. He didn't tell Cagalli, but to him, the current situation was remotely frightening.

* * *

He was bored beyond belief.

Yzak continued his usual routine pacing around the corridors, a habit he acquired starting three days ago. Why did Arabella have to shut herself in her room again? Preparing for a Senate meeting huh? Well, the senators can go to…

Wait, why did he even bother with this? He didn't need her! There were so many things he could do without…He stopped, trying to think of _something_ he could do. Um…yea…there were so many things he could do…

"Ouch."

Yzak came back to reality, and found that he bumped into Elise. "Watch where you're going!" He yelled, perhaps a bit too harshly. To his surprise, Elise didn't bother to retort back.

"Oh…uh…hi Yzak…uh, what are you doing here?" She stammered nervously.

"Can't a person walk around if he feels like it?" Yzak snidely remarked, although a bit suspicious at Elise's reaction, or rather the lack of it.

"Um…I guess…yea, sure! Yea, got to go!" With that, Elise escaped as if her life depended on it.

Yzak looked after her incredulously. What was going on with her? Is she hiding something? But what? Women were weird…

"Forget it." He decided. Slowly, he walked outside. Maybe the fresh air would do him so good. After a couple minutes, he found Kira, Dearka, Lacus and Miriallia having what seemed like a tea party. Okay, so fresh air might not be the best option right now…

"Hey Yzak!" Dearka spotted him, before he could sneak back inside.

"Oh, hello there." Lacus also greeted him. "Would you like to join us? We would love the company, especially the boys here, who don't seem to be as excited as we are."

"Uh…that's alright." Yzak replied, backing away slowly. "I have other things to do…"

"Well, if you're not going to be here, I suppose it would be alright for me to tell them the story about your hair…" Dearka smirked, practically waving the blackmail material in front of Yzak. Grumbling, Yzak sat down, as Lacus poured him a cup of tea.

* * *

"Okay, they should be somewhere around here…" Both Cagalli and Athrun stood wide-mouth, shocked at the sight in front of them. The sight of Yzak holding a cup daintily, and contently sipping tea seemed…well…just wrong.

"Could you pass me some biscuits Lacus?" Yzak asked. Cagalli and Athrun blinked again. "You two could stop looking at me like that." Yzak glared, seeing the two of them.

"Well Yzak, we never thought you've…" Cagalli stammered.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but my mother taught me good manners." Yzak retorted, and then continued to sip his tea.

"Mama's boy." Dearka snickered.

"Shut it."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. For a minute there, they all thought Yzak had gone a bit psychotic.

"Now, now Yzak. You wouldn't want the others to know, do you?" Dearka teased.

"What are you…oh, I see." Athrun smirked. "So that's what you're blackmailing him with. I knew the behavior was strange…I almost questioned his sanity there."

"Come, join us!" The other two girls suddenly asked, forcing Cagalli to sit next to them.

"Um…I'm going to go now…" Athrun stammered nervously, trying to figure out a way to get away.

"Tea." The girls gave him evil glares. Athrun was forced to prop down next to a chuckling Yzak.

"Zala, if the rest of us have to go through this, you're going to have to suffer as well." He stated in an undertone. Athrun grimaced, wondering what he got himself into.

Lacus suddenly clapped her hands. "All right, now it's story time!"

* * *

Elise breathed a sigh of relief as she shut the door behind her. Once she made sure that the door was locked, she took out the documents she had hidden before, and started analyzing them. She hadn't really had many chances to look at them, for fear of Arabella walking in on her, and also because of the errands her grandmother sent her to do. Now Arabella was busy preparing for the meeting, and her grandmother let her off for the rest of the day. Perfect timing.

Sighing, she took out the first treaty. She had read the first few paragraphs a couple times, but couldn't really find anything important. Maybe the second one might help her out.

"_In light of the recent disputes in dealing with noticeable discrepancy within this state's policy…"_

Elise stopped. She read it again. Something was missing. She read the first one again.

"_In light of the recent disputes in dealing with _a _noticeable discrepancy within this state's policy…"_

Elise breathed a sigh of relief. Only an "a" was missing from the second one. "It's probably just a typo. I really need to get a hold on myself." With that, she proceeded to read the second one. A couple paragraphs down she stopped again.

"_To end further unnecessary disagreements, and to evade any other forms of descending actions between the parties…"_

"Wait, did that even make sense?" Elise flipped backed to the first one.

"_To end further unnecessary disagreements, and to evade any other forms of _con_descending actions between the parties…"_

Another typo perhaps? But this was an official document. A copy, yes, but the original was an official one. Was this purposely done? "Is this…some code?" She circled the missing parts, and proceeded to find if there were any others.

* * *

"I take it that all of you are having fun."

"Oh, hi Arabella!" The girls greeted her cheerfully, while the guys just acknowledged her with a nod. They were too strained from their ordeal.

"Are you done now? If you are, you can join us." Lacus offered.

"Oh, I'm done." Arabella started to explain. "But now I have to go inside for the actual meeting. Most of the senators are already inside, and I was just looking for Nora. But I suppose I shouldn't be keeping them waiting for long."

Lacus and Cagalli nodded in unison. "We understand." Cagalli stated. "Having to deal with annoying representatives can be quite a headache."

"Headache is an understatement." Arabella smiled. "But well, I got to go now, so have fun."

"Hey, let's go follow her." Cagalli suggested once Arabella was out of earshot.

"Wouldn't we be stepping out of line a bit too much this time?" Kira suggested.

"That's not going to stop Cagalli." Athrun murmured. Cagalli heard it, but didn't bother to reply. Athrun became more disturbed. This was very unlike her…

"Fine, whatever. Let's go." Yzak stated plainly, and proceeded to walk inside, to the surprise of everyone.

"He's probably annoyed with all the hesitation." Athrun stated in an undertone.

"Naw. He just wanted to get away from the tea occasion as soon as possible." Dearka smirked.

* * *

"Exactly on time, princess." One of the senators remarked.

"Yes of course." Arabella put on a smile.

"I suppose you like to keep things coordinated." Another senator murmured, yet stated it loud enough for most to hear.

"In one sense." Arabella replied, keeping her composure. "And you naturally want to proceed, of course?"

"Of course."

"Personally, it's quite admirable of the princess to act in such a way." The first senator butted in. "If we wait for everything to happen naturally, nothing will ever progress."

"Now, now, gentlemen, we shouldn't get into disputes over such trivialities." Arabella stopped the exchange before things got out of hand. "Instead, are there any specific issues that needs to be talked about?"

"Obviously, or we wouldn't have called a meeting." Another of them snickered. "But of course, you naturally forgot."

"I was stating a rhetorical question." Arabella replied curtly. "But I suppose trying to keep things too coordinated degrades one's ability to catch such subtlety and deviations."

"Perhaps princess." Another senator started. "But we have a lot to discuss. Starting with those visitors of yours…"

* * *

"They're talking about us!" Cagalli commented.

"It seems so."

"By the way Zala, were they saying what I thought they were saying?" Yzak asked Athrun.

"Yes, I think so." He replied.

"Huh? The rest of them asked, not comprehending fully.

"Hm." Yzak turned his back on them, annoyed by their ignorance, and continued to listen to what was going on inside.

"We'll explain later. Now, let's just listen." Athrun told them.

"Why sirs, I didn't think any of you would be interested in my personal matters." Arabella continued.

"I suppose it's not really our place to question." The second senator stated. "But I really doubt if it's to the nation's best interest to have such…well…such people…"

"Are you trying to imply something senator?" Another addressed him coldly.

"Why, nothing at all." He replied sarcastically.

"Truthfully, I didn't see any problems with it." The other senator continued in response to the sarcasm. "But of course, some people seemed to have different opinions. I for one would rather discuss about Senator Yutare's current situation…"

"Well, in response to the first issue, I think most of you are forgetting that a representative of Orb is also staying as my private guest. So if the issue is the type of people that are present, I suggest you keep that in mind." Arabella smiled. "Besides, the war is over, is it not? Such distinctions should not matter so much anymore."

"Yes, well…"

"And in dealing with the second issue that was about to be mentioned…" Arabella continued. "I find no error in my mother's previous decision in keeping Senator Yutare under house arrest, so there isn't much to discuss about that."

"But your highness, it's been such a long time…"

"You are forgetting sir, that there was a reason why he was put under house arrest. A good reason." Her eyes flashed dangerously, daring anyone to challenge that statement. No one dared. "Besides, the senator has not done anything to redeem himself." Arabella smiled, looking contently at the faces staring back at her. "I suppose that will put an end to the disputes dealing with those issues?"

"Yes…well…"

"What are you doing here?" The group jumped, seeing that they were caught.

"Oh…um…we were suppose to meet Elise here." They stated hastily.

Nora eyed them suspiciously, but didn't bother to interrogate them. "Elise is probably in her room. You should go look for her there."

"Oh…uh…thank you Nora!" The group hastily walked away, while they still had the chance.

* * *

End of chapter…

All I can say is…ugh…(bangs head on table)…people are going to be angry with me for this chapter…(sigh)

By the way, if you didn't quite understand the part of the meeting, especially the first part, look at the words carefully.

And those of you that love to bash Lucia, don't worry, you'll get to see her again. XD

Oh, and I have a livejournal page just dedicated to writing now. I'll probably have other writing stuff on it to, but mainly it's going to be about this fic (at least until it's finished XD). So please come visit and say hi! XD (link is on author profile)

Next chapter…well…how am I going to say this…things aren't exactly getting better…XD


	24. Marionette of Politics

Wow…it's been awhile since I updated this…(sorry…XD)

I know I usually respond to reviews directly, but I want to start writing the fic as soon as possible. But one thing…

People have been asking me about what's going on with Cagalli. It's not just one reason, but more of a gradual buildup. If you read, you can tell that she's starting to get more and more frustrated because of various reasons. And no, she didn't have a fight with Athrun. At least not yet anyways. XD

* * *

**Ch. 24: Marionette of Politics**

Arabella slowly walked into her room, with perfect dignity. Only her eyes betrayed her weariness. Not bothering to make sure that no one would intrude, she approached the vanity, and collapsed into a nearby armchair. She grasped at the ribbons holding her hair back, objects used to make her look more regal. Pulling at them, she untangled them, casting them indignantly onto the floor. Her silver tresses flowed freely, no longer hindered by any restraints. She never did like anything in her hair.

Suddenly, the room felt very stifling. She opened the window, letting the chilly wind in. Yes, it was cold. She couldn't resist a shiver. But at the moment, anything was better than the unbearable, strangling heat that she was surrounded with.

They were all chocking her. Greedy, power-mongering, self-righteous…she composed herself in time. No, in essence, they were not wholly to blame. One must blame the murder not the murderer. True, that sounded ridiculous. They were fools sure enough, for being so weak to fall to such levels. However, isn't every human being capable of such things?

The only difference between the innocent and the tainted were their choices, and their actions dealing with the choices. But that thin line was what mattered in the end. And that line couldn't necessarily be described as thin.

She would laugh inside when people tolerated such things so much that the line was thinner than that of a broken piano string. They wanted to escape consequences. No sense of responsibility. She sounded like an old lady, but weren't sages of old, well, old? Of course, age wasn't everything, but one technically has to live longer to have more experiences.

Why was she murmuring this gibberish anyways? Ah yes, the senators. They riled her so, driving her to the point of insanity. Of course, not that she would let them know, of course. So where was she? Yes of course, the line. Her main point was this: understandable, but not justified.

They would laugh at her, behind her back. _Understandable, but not justified._

They would anticipate eagerly, waiting for her to stumble. _Understandable, but not justified._

They would sneer at her for just being a child. _Understandable, but not justified._

They would, right after she turned her back, call her a half-blooded…

She laid down at the edge of the bed, unwilling to get back up. Her slightly wavy hair fell all around her, shielding her from the light which suddenly seemed so blaring. She just wanted to drown in the softness.

It was obvious what she was. A marionette. Controlled by what others wanted from her. What others expected of her. But in that sense, everyone was a marionette. It's just that she was a marionette of politics, while others were slaves to other things.

One thing for sure though. She would pull on her strings, regardless of how much they pulled back. True, she would have to feel their pain, and would sometimes have to give in. She was no soldier princess who could stand her own in gundam battles, or an immortal icon of a songstress that can bewitch the masses. But she was Arabella A. Shante who will pull in her own way, and finally see the face of the puppeteer.

* * *

Kira and Lacus sat across from each other, one with a sorrowful look, and another with a concerned one. Except this time, it was the other way around. 

"It must be difficult for Arabella." Lacus managed to say, nibbling on a wafer, absent-minded.

Kira nodded back. Of course, not that he would know of it first-hand, but he could certainly sympathize. But what worried him was the distant look Lacus had in her eyes. Since he was the one always getting comforted, he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Maybe he should have gotten some advice from Athrun. But then again, he and Cagalli didn't seem to be doing so well either. If anything, Kira had half a mind to go throttle his "best friend", but seeing that Cagalli's demeanor wasn't caused by Athrun, his actions would be pointless.

Cagalli's pretensions didn't fool him. Athrun probably saw through it too. Personally, Kira always found her aggressive attitude to be a bit unnerving. Not just because they seemed, well, too blunt, but because sometimes they seemed hallow. It was more evident now days. Her cheerful attitude seemed less genuine, as if she was covering up her vulnerabilities with it. Of course, most people didn't realize it. It was just between the three of them.

Kira shifted his eyes back to the pink-haired songstress. Yes, at this time, his main concern was her. True, he wasn't finished dealing with his insecurities. If anything, he was far from it, but he definitely wasn't a sadist. He didn't want to see her hurt. It was ironic that he wanted to protect her and yet push her away at the same time. He really needed to stop being an idiot.

"Being a political figure breaks the person." Lacus continued, in a tranquil voice, tinted slightly with sorrow. "It crushes and grinds their soul…" She added. "Even if the person is just a figurehead."

Kira looked up. So that was what she was getting at. "You're not a figurehead, Lacus."

"Sometimes I have to wonder about that." Lacus sighed. "Sure, I've seen what goes on in politics, my father being who he was. But did I truly understand, and if anything, control what was going on? No, I was just a pretty little pop star, singing away everyone's troubles. But in truth, the problem was still always there."

"But you did end up bringing the people towards peace. Bringing Athrun to his senses, the speech you made…"

"Those were the highlights of my influence." Lacus smiled meekly. "But how long can I sustain that? Not very long."

Kira sighed in response. How can he argue that? "Just do what you can. That's all anyone should ask for. That's all we ask for." He attempted, trying to cheer her up. He congratulated himself for not messing up so far.

"Thank you Kira." She smiled, this time genuinely. "But maybe…maybe after the treaty is signed…I was hoping to just…disappear."

"I was hoping for the same thing myself." Kira replied back.

"We need to find a place of shelter and call it our own."

* * *

"Cagalli, calm down…" Athrun sweat-dropped. 

The two of them were in the dining hall, Cagalli pigging out, while Athrun tried his best to stop her. Not that he usually cared how much Cagalli ate. In fact, he was glad that she enjoyed food and stayed healthy. He never could understand why girls starved themselves. But Cagalli ate at such an alarming rate at this point, that Athrun couldn't help but try to stop her. He didn't want her to get sick later on.

Half a box of donuts, two bags of candy, and five slices of a medium pizza…and she was on her way to finishing a tube of ice cream. If anything, she looked as if she wasn't going to stop anytime soon. This wasn't about food. Not only did she have a good meal before, but the way she ravaged through the items showed that she had other things in mind. Things that were making her act so out of her usual character. And she wasn't telling him any of it.

Athrun respected Cagalli's right to privacy. But her stubbornness in keeping everything to herself had started to get him frustrated. He didn't want her to face things on her own. If anything, he felt so useless, not being able to help her when she needed.

"Pass me the cookies." Cagalli asked sullenly.

"Cagalli…"

"Since when did you care? You might was well leave too!" Cagalli remarked as she snatched the bag right out of his hands.

Athrun sighed. He had overheard the conversation between Cagalli and Kisaka before. According to Kisaka, he was to set off to help rebuild the desert areas, once Cagalli came back. At least, that was what one of the other representatives was having him do anyways. Cagalli came fuming out of the room, not even realizing that Athrun had been only a few feet away. Unfortunately, Athrun had to pretend as if he didn't hear a thing, in order not to instigate an already furious Cagalli.

He continued to watch her as she gobbled up the cookies. She was still so naïve in a lot of sense. True, she had been involved in battle, and went out into the world to see it as it really was. But that blocked her from realizing another facet of reality. Her life was one of adventure, of battle. It was a picturesque example of an unrestrained youth. She did not understand the subtle implications, the manipulations that occurred in the back, especially in lines with politics.

That's why she was so frustrated. She had a hard time grasping what went on, and why those things went on. It was hard for her to understand and keep control of the situations because she was inexperienced, and that only sought to frustrate her even more. No wonder she wanted people to hold on to. No wonder she grew so angry sometimes…

* * *

Yzak Jule walked firmly towards his destination. He had been waiting patiently (and patience was not his virtue) in order to get a chance to talk to Arabella. He knew the state Arabella would be in, after the meeting. A lot more vulnerable than usual. He was going to exploit that. 

That sounded cruel and unjust. But that's how politics worked. It left a foul taste in his mouth. He didn't exactly like being a spy, although technically he wasn't resorting to anything illegal. A spy was a spy. It wasn't as if he was commissioned to be one, but his mother pretty much suggested that he might as well make himself useful while staying there. He should have just stayed as a soldier.

Shutting the door to the entrance of Arabella's common room behind him, he proceeded up the staircase towards Arabella's room. He knocked on the door, but received no answer. Then he realized that the door was slightly open, and he couldn't help but slowly walk inside. Arabella slept, curled up at the edge of the bed, oblivious to his intrusion. Apparently she dropped out of exhaustion right away, for she didn't even bother to change into something more comfortable. The only difference between her appearances now compared to before was the lack of ribbons restraining her hair. She seemed so vulnerable.

If someone decided to assassinate her now, there would be no resistance on Arabella's part. This was the first time Yzak was able to take a glimpse at her without any of her masks or walls shielding her. He didn't know how to quite take in the situation.

Suddenly, a cold gust of wind entered the room, causing Arabella to involuntarily shiver. Yzak turned his attention towards the open window. "Idiot, who leaves the window open on a cold night like this?" He went up to it, and closed it, and then changed his mind. "Well, it is a bit stuffy in here…" Yzak left the window slightly ajar, just enough for a bit of fresh air to get through.

His gaze turned back to Arabella, who still seemed to shiver slightly. Sighing, he grabbed the nearby blanket and gently draped it over her. "I'm going to give her a piece of my mind if she coughs and sneezes all over me tomorrow because she got sick." With that he exited, turning the light off. "Sometimes she's more trouble than she's worth." Yzak shook his head. But he couldn't help but glance back.

* * *

Blood…dripping… 

Smeared all over his hands…

All he could do now was stare. His eyes, completely blank…Only reflecting the crimson red before him.

Silently he walked out. Soon, sounds of screaming filled the place. He would deal with that. But he could not…no, would not look at the bloody corpse before him ever again.

* * *

"Princess! Princess!" 

Arabella woke up, hearing the faint sound grow louder and louder. She looked around her surroundings. Why was it dark? And the blanket? She did not have time to ponder over these things, however, as a maid burst into her room.

"What is it?" Arabella asked anxiously. Everyone knew better than to disturb her. The news must be of importance…

"Please excuse me for disturbing you princess…but…but…"

"It's alright. Just tell me what's going on." Rule: remain calm at all times in order to better understand the situation. She reminded herself, preparing for the worst to come. Someone break into the restricted section? A declaration of war? Massacre on the streets? A revolt? Many crises flew across her mind as she patiently waited for an answer.

"It's…it's your fiancée, your highness…he's not…he…in the lounge…"

Wordlessly, Arabella headed towards her destination. She had many questions to ask, but they would have to wait.

"Hi Arabella, Miriallia and I were just playing checkers…" Dearka greeted her as he saw her approaching, but stopped short seeing the seriousness in her eyes. She gave them a curt nod before going on her way.

"Should we follow her?" Miriallia asked in a low voice.

"Might as well. Seems important." Dearka replied.

They were soon followed by Kira and Lacus, who had just come out of their respective rooms, and seeing Arabella and the two trailing behind, decided to also follow out of worry. Athrun had finally managed to get Cagalli away from food, and when the two of them spotted the entourage, they silently followed. Soon, they were followed by an irritated Yzak who started to complain about the commotion, and Elise who was just about to ask a question but decided against it, seeing Arabella's disposition.

"Ray…what happened?" Arabella asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ray was leaning against the doorframe of the lounge for support, his eyes slightly delirious, and his breathing haggard. "My…my father…" Ray managed to stammer. "He…he's…"

"Ray, sit down and calm yourself first." Elise suggested, seeing that he had to put the biggest effort just to stand.

"Yes…I should…" He agreed. "After taking a few moments to compose himself, he continued. "My father's been murdered." Ray stated, this time more calmly.

"Is…is that the blood…" Arabella remarked, pointing at Ray's hands and sleeves.

"Yes…yes…it is." Ray blinked, as if seeing them there for the first time. "I…I guess I was out of my mind. I should have changed and washed my hands before I came here…I wasn't thinking…I'm sorry…"

"No, it's fine." Arabella reassured him. "I'm sure you had a lot on your mind, and of course, it was all of the sudden…"

"I might have been able to stop it, if I was there a few minutes earlier." Ray explained regretfully. "Right when I opened the door, the assassin plunged the knife into him. I…I was at a loss of words…it was too sudden. I didn't even realize the assassin escaping, and I…well…I guess I was too shocked to even shout…Then of course, stupid me had to try to pull the knife out of him…not realizing that I basically erased the culprit's fingerprints in the process…"

Arabella listened to Ray patiently. Yes, Ray had the right to be shocked. After all, she was shocked as well. One of her prime suspects, killed out of nowhere, just after a senate meeting which brought him up…it made no sense. If he was out of the picture, then who was it? Was this just a free-for-all manslaughter with no specific objectives? They were toying with her again, whoever was causing all of the chaos. And not just with her either. Even Ray's family, whom she never considered being negatively hit in such a way. If anything, she thought that its members were the instigators. Now, everything was brought back to confusion.

"Arabella, I have a favor to ask you." Ray interrupted her thoughts.

"If you're asking me to help find the culprit, I already decided to do so way beforehand." She replied.

"Thank you." Ray answered courteously. "But there was also another favor I wanted to ask you…" He stopped short, hesitant. "Could we…well, that is, Lucia and I, stay here for awhile?"

Everyone stared hard at Ray. Did he just ask what they thought he asked?

"Ray, well…I don't really mind you staying here, but Lucia…" Arabella approached the subject.

Ray looked up, pleading. "I…I know that Lucia hadn't really been the nicest person in the world, but she…"

"I could manage to stand her, but I have other guests over as well." Arabella tried to tell him nicely.

"Yes…I was aware of that…but…" Ray started to beg. "I know Lucia already seemed a bit insane as she already was, but with father dead…Her mother died long before Lucia could even remember her face, and father was the only one she ever had…sure, whether he was ever a loving father is another story, but he did provide her with everything she asked for, at least in the material sense, and because of that, she adored him." Ray stopped to catch his breath. "With him gone, she's just devastated. It's only been about four hours since he's been killed, and she's already caused so much havoc…" He slowly drew up his sleeves, revealing long, ugly scratch marks across his arms.

"Lucia did those?" Elise managed to ask.

Ray nodded her head. "I was trying to keep her from jumping out of the window, and this is what she does to me, her own brother! One of the maids had to be dragged to the hospital because Lucia tore her up so bad due to her grief. I…I just can't have her stay there anymore. She would get only worse. And I don't have the heart to send her to an asylum…" He suddenly addressed Cagalli. "Please, I know my sister is far from agreeable, but for the sake of human kindness, please show her some mercy…"

"She can stay."

Everyone stared at Cagalli in surprise. "Are…are you sure it will be alright?" Arabella asked, not so sure about Cagalli's judgment.

"Yes." Cagalli answered gruffly. "I don't really want to see her again, but I know what's it like to lose a father." A hint of sadness lingered in her eyes. "I guess even undeserved kindness is necessary in this case."

"Thank you!" Ray replied gratefully, both to Cagalli and Arabella. "I'll try my best to make sure that she doesn't cause any trouble."

"By the way, how did you manage to leave her alone in the house?" Arabella asked.

"I had to lock her up in a windowless, completely empty room by herself." He replied, sounding regretful that he had to resort to that. "I guess I should go now and bring her…I hate to leave her alone in her situation right now…"

"No Ray, get her in the morning. Nothing's going to happen to her. Just stay and relax here tonight. You need your rest too. After all, she's not the only one that lost a father." Elise remarked.

"But…"

"Elise is right. You need your rest. Go get her tomorrow." Arabella nodded in agreement.

Defeated, Ray did as he was told.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't need help with the bandages?" 

"No I'm fine. Thank you though."

After seeing that Ray was all right, Elise walked into her room, locking the door behind her. Right away, she turned her focus back to the documents, and tried concentrate on grouping the letters together. At first she had been surprised that the letters see found formed into words.

"I get the feeling that these describe some of the things that are hidden in the restricted sections…" Elise mused. Although she could never be certain, she had to make that assumption. Why else would there be a code?

But in one sense, she wished that her assumption wasn't true. She couldn't believe that some of the things were actually down there. No wonder there was such tight security…

She started grouping the next set. _M…_she picked out. Then she skimmed past some of the other letter, in accordance to the code. _E…_Her eyes continued to scan. _N…_that was a tricky one…she almost missed it. _D…_

Her eyes started drooping. No, she had to go on…

_Pool resources, help Bella…_

_You can't give up!_

_What would Bella say?_

_You would give up, just like that? I thought the friendship between you two meant more than that…_

_You finally have a chance to help her back…_

She would stay up the night.

* * *

Yes, it's done. XD

This chapter was…well…interesting…

And I apologize again and again about the late update…(sweat-drops)

Oh, and yes, I know, Dearka and Miriallia are virtually not existent in this chapter…sorry to those that wanted to see them…but looking at the title, you can sort of tell that they don't quite belong in this chapter…

And Ray's father getting killed, it will all be explained in the later chapters…I promise.

Is it getting confusing? No? Well, I tried…

Oh, and cotton candy for those that can figure out just what Elise was starting to spell out. XD

Next chapter…well, Lucia's coming back. Self-explanatory…XD


	25. Measurement of Perseverance

Update time…

I know, some people have been wondering if I was even still alive XD. (could tell by the lack of responses) My apologies…I'll try to update more often.

_Angel of Dreams-_Oh, I don't mind that you used the name Elise…go right ahead XD. And of course I'll read your fic…as soon as I find ample time that is…

_Eternal Affinity- _As much as Lucia is a pain, for the sake of plot development she needs to stay…for now…And MEND? LoL…XD. Well, Elise was only half-way through spelling out the word…good try though. Well, thanks for the review…I always enjoy hearing from you.

_OpposingForce-_ Hm…comparing Lucia with Mia? Interesting concept…(although it was not intentionally done…I created Lucia long time before Destiny even came out XD). And yes, I should add some more details. I noticed it before too, and attempted to fix the problem. If I had more time on my hands and less stress, I would fix it better…but of course, that's not an excuse. Anyways, I'll try harder this time. Thanks for the tip.

_cherri-chan- _Oh, it will eventually end…XD. And all of it will come together…

Thanks also to _AnimeSiren, Kagome1992, DarkFusion, tennisprincess15, sailor-z-360, _and _athrunlovescagalli._

Well, on with the chapter…

* * *

**Ch. 25: Measurement of Perseverance**

Dearka paced about in the garden out of sheer boredom. Not that he didn't appreciate the leisure time away from Yzak's constant grumbling, but life was a bit too constant at the current time. Well, there was the whole murder fiasco, but that wasn't exactly the excitement he was hoping for.

He passed by several rosebushes, the flowers still encased in their buds. But of course, it was still winter. Even with the favorable weather the place was having after the bizarre snowstorm that caused them to plummet down here, that didn't change the timing of the roses. It still wasn't spring for them.

"Dearka, what are you doing?"

He turned around abruptly. Behind him stood Miriallia, in an all too familiar orange mini-dress, holding onto an armful of wintersweets. She was smiling at him. Spring.

"Dearka? Dearka? Are you okay?" Miriallia asked a dazed Dearka, concerned.

"Huh? Oh…um yea…heh heh…" He scratched his head nervously.

"Are you up to something?" She asked, suspicious.

"What could I possibly be up to?" Dearka shrugged, looking above her head, beside her head, just everywhere away from her face, while fidgeting nervously. Well, it wasn't as if he was planning anything, but just seeing her "I'm going to figure out what mischief you're up to" look made him want to run for his life.

"I'm going to keep an eye on you." Miriallia stated, not wholly convinced. Dearka sweat-dropped.

"Um, ok…I was just going to walk over there…" With that he proceeded in a random direction. In a few seconds, he stopped, realizing something. "Would you like me to carry those for you?"

"Uh…sure." Miriallia applied slightly curious about his sudden offer. Dearka held the flowers with no effort as they proceeded to walk around the garden.

"So, what are _you _doing out here?" He asked her.

"I was just picking flowers to decorate inside." Miriallia replied, matter-of-fact.

"Oh."

The two proceeded in silence, until they came across a particular section of the garden. "Wow, look at that!" She pointed.

Pure white dauphne covered the ground, giving an illusion of shifting snow, as the breeze gently moved the flowers. Miriallia ran across them, laughing out of pure joy. Dearka followed her, not quite understanding her demeanor, but happy that she was enjoying herself.

"I know this seems a bit silly." She started to explain as Dearka caught up with her. "It's just that it's been such a long time since I saw something so simple and peaceful, yet beautiful at the same time…I couldn't help myself." She stopped, seeing Dearka's incredulous expression. "Well, I guess I'm starting to sound ridiculous again…"

"No, no…" Dearka replied, shaking his head. "It's just that I didn't realize that until you mentioned it."

"Oh, then it's a good thing I pointed it out then." The two continued, until they arrived at the middle of the section, where a lone tree stood.

"Hey, a rope swing." Dearka pointed it out. "Want to try it?"

"I've love to. But are you sure it's not going to break?" She asked nervously, eyeing the branch that held up the swing.

Dearka rolled his eyes. "With something as light as you on it, I doubt it." With that, he scooped her up, and propped her on the swing. "I'm going to push, so hold on tight!"

"Um…I'm not sure if this is a good…" Miriallia didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, for she was busy gasping for breath as Dearka suddenly pushed her high into the air. "Dearka!" She wanted to shout, but all was forgotten, as the air breezed past her, exhilarating her.

"Having fun?" Dearka asked. He received laughter in response.

Eventually, his arms started to grow tired. Not that he would admit it to her, of course. He had a reputation to keep, not to mention, a mission to keep her happy. He continued to look at her, as she continued to swing back and forth. How ironic.

He wanted to laugh bitterly at his predicament. Here she was, the woman of his dreams. Yet just like the current situation, she came and went. When she was far away, in a few moments, she came closer. Then all too soon, she became distant again. Swinging back and forth. Tolle, Dearka, Tolle, Dearka…the allegory of the swing went on and on. But what if, instead of pushing her, as she wished him to do…what if he held onto her…

"Dearka?" She questioned, as he gently stopped the swing by holding onto her.

Now was his chance…"I thought you were getting dizzy, so I stopped." He blew it.

"Oh…thanks."

"So…uh, you want to pick these too?" He proceeded to pluck a dauphne, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.

"Um, you know that they're poisonous, right?"

"What!" Dearka dropped the flower, and went away from it as far as possible, making Miriallia laugh.

"Well, I doubt you can get poisoned just by touching it, but apparently if it gets inside your system, it has some nasty effects." Miriallia explained, once she regained her composure.

"Oh…I see…" Dearka blushed, feeling quite stupid.

"Well, I guess a couple of these wouldn't hurt." With that, Miriallia kneeled on the ground, and proceeded to gather them. Dearka picked up a flower, still thinking about her.

Poisonous, she said. Something that looked so harmless and pristine had a bit of a bite of its own. Kind of like her, wasn't it? She was perfect in his eyes, yet she was poison. She was poison only because he wanted her, and yet he had to wait patiently because he wanted her to want him too. She was killing him, yet he wanted more. She really was in his system.

"So, you really weren't up to anything." Miriallia remarked.

"Now you believe me." Dearka feigned exasperation. Miriallia couldn't help but giggle.

"Well, at least we enjoyed ourselves. That matters, right?" She commented.

"Yes, it matters. It matters in everything." He murmured to himself.

* * *

The library lights were gently lit, creating a cozy atmosphere, along with comfortable velvet sofas and cups of hot chocolate. A certain pink-haired songstress walked in quietly, making sure not to disturb anyone inside. Her eyes scanned the area back and forth, as they glided in search of a troubled ultimate coordinator. "I know he's in here somewhere." Lacus continued her search, until she spotted him near a corner. His face was covered by gigantic textbook. Was he attempting to study? She couldn't help but giggle.

"What are you doing Kira?" She asked, as she started to approach him. To her surprise, she got no response. "Maybe he's concentrating too much on the book that he didn't notice me." She thought. Slowly, she stretched her arm, and with her index finger, poked his arm. Still no response.

Now, Lacus knew better than to bother someone when they were busy doing something. That would be rude. But just this once, the fact that Kira was paying more attention to something else was…well…quite irksome.

"Um…Kira…" Poke. "I know I shouldn't be bothering you." Poke. "But I was wondering…" Poke. "What you were doing." Poke. Poke. Poke. She was about to continue poking him, until she got a better look at him. He was sleeping.

"Uh…" Lacus couldn't help but sweat-drop. "Good thing no one noticed." She looked around just to make sure. That was embarrassing.

"I wonder what he was reading." Her attention shifted towards the blue book he was holding. The title, in bold black letters read: **Special Studies in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics**.

"Lacus?"

She looked up to find a sleepy-eyed Kira looking back at her in puzzlement. "Have a nice nap?" She asked, smiling.

"Uh…yes." He replied, smiling. Maybe the sleep was getting to him.

Lacus took this moment to sit across from him. "If you don't mind me asking Kira, why were you reading that?" She pointed at the thick book.

"Well…I…um, just wanted to." Kira scratched his head. "This is going to be a long explanation."

"I don't mind." Lacus replied sweetly.

"Well, I was reminiscing about the war again…" Kira stopped, seeing Lacus frown. "No, I wasn't wallowing in angst again." He assured her "And I was just thinking about the differences between Coordinators and Naturals, and how I'm supposedly the ultimate coordinator…to make it short, I wanted to find out more about it, and also how Coordinators can continue to survive…"

"I understand." Lacus smiled. "It's quite noble of you to go about such a task."

Kira couldn't help but turn slightly red at that statement. "Thank you Lacus." But then his eyes turned a bit wistful. "I guess this is the one time that I might be able to prove a bit useful…"

"Don't degrade yourself." Lacus reproached him. "You're useful in a lot of ways Kira. For one, you provide me with a lot of support."

Kira's eyes opened wide, confused. "But Lacus, I thought that it was the other way around…"

"Support is a give and take situation. And you do give me support in your own special way." Lacus beamed.

"Well…" Kira smiled back. "If you say so."

Eventually, Kira went back to his book, and Lacus scurried around to find a book of her own. Many cups of hot chocolate were finished, as the two silently read their respective books. However, one thought constantly came up in their heads: If you're my support and I am yours, two pillars can hold up anything the world decides to pile.

* * *

Elise popped her head out of her door. "Ouch!" She yelled as it bumped into the wall. "Clumsy me…" She rubbed her head, reproaching herself. "Well, at least no one saw that…" Quickly her head darted back and forth, making sure her statement proved to be correct. She had been so paranoid these days, with good reason of course, but that made her even clumsier than she usually was. In fact, her bumbling acts have brought on a lot of suspicion. Just the other day Arabella asked her if she was feeling alright when she ran into the wall two consecutive times. If this kept up, she would loose her sanity, among other things…but her conscience kept nagging at her from both sides…

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. No, she had to continue. She had already chosen her direction. Doubts had to be suppressed. Elise looked around her surroundings once again. The hallway stayed deserted as usual. Good. She purposely had set it up that way, lest anyone would walk in on her…

A door opened nearby, revealing the lady behind it. "Oh, hello grandmother. What brings you here?" Elise asked, trying to act natural, while stepping out of her room.

"Well, I just wanted to ask you…Elise, watch out for that vase!" Nora warned.

"Eh, what…" The instant Elise turned around, something toppled off the counter, shattering into fragments on the floor. "Oops! Not again!" Elise moaned, and proceeded to pick up the pieces.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure one of the maids will come and take care of it." Nora reassured her, although she looked a bit exasperated.

"Heh…sorry grandmother…I haven't quite been myself lately." Elise grinned sheepishly.

"Actually, your usual clumsiness had been amplified significantly." Nora scolded her, yet smiling. "But regardless, I wanted to ask you where Arabella is right now."

"Oh, I don't know…I just woke up a few minutes ago." Elise confessed, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Apparently." Nora commented, looking at Elise's current state. Her straight blond hair was currently disheveled, and the big puffy yellow shirt she wore to bed stayed crooked, dragging along her arm, one of her shoulders exposed. Not to mention, her eyes had a lazy look, and were red.

"Have you been getting enough rest?" Nora eyed her suspiciously.

"Yes, grandmother." Elise lied. "It's just that yesterday's incident was well, a bit tiring."

Nora nodded her head in understanding. "Well, just make sure to get enough sleep." Elise nodded back. "Oh, and if you see Arabella, tell her that the doctor's here to see her." Nora continued. "And I suggest that you get a shot as well just for safety measure, once you wash up."

"Okay grandmother." Elise replied. With a nod, Nora went on her way.

Once she was gone, Elise heaved a sigh. She really was losing it…

"Why, you look quite lovely today Elise." Elise turned around, and took a good look at the speaker.

"I would like to say the same to you." She laughed back at him.

"I take it that you just woke up too." Ray smirked, while trying to fix his hair, which was sticking out in all directions.

Elise nodded. "I couldn't sleep. And I guess you couldn't either."

Ray nodded back. "I was tossing and turning. And of course, when I finally managed to sleep, I was completely knocked out. Hence, the late awakening." Ray moaned. " I can't believe I left Lucia alone all this time. Who knows what trouble she got into by now."

"You really do worry about her, don't you?"

"Well…I don't know." Ray scratched his head. "She and I are…well…so different. And I get fed up with her all the time. But I suppose it's inhumane to leave her as she is."

"Well, they say blood runs thicker than water." Elise commented.

Ray shook his head. "I don't think it's even that." He started to sound nervous. Elise started to have her suspicions that he was hiding something, but she wasn't going to pry. Not yet anyways.

"So, how's Arabella?" Ray quickly changed the subject.

"You're her _fiancée_. Why are you asking me?" Elise asked, her suspicion growing.

"But you're her _best_ friend." He countered back.

"She's under a lot of stress." Elise stated, her concern evident.

"Ah, I see." Ray replied. "So you're obviously trying your best to help her out. That's what friends do for each other, right?" He added.

Elise nodded her head. "Yea…"

"Friend before ruler…Well, I should go pick up Lucia now. I'll see you later." With that, Ray proceeded on his way."

Elise stood there for a few moments. "I hope I know what I'm doing."

* * *

Athrun blinked as Miriallia gave him a bouquet of flowers. "Huh? What…"

"You know what to do, Zala." Dearka gave him a wink, before the two of them disappeared from Athrun's presence.

Athrun stared after them blankly for a few seconds. Sighing, he started towards Cagalli's room. Yes, he knew what he had to do. But the question was, how would she take it? He gently knocked on her door.

"Come in."

Athrun took a deep breath. Slowly, he entered the room. "Um…Cagalli, these are for you."

"Thank you." She stated, with a small smile on her face. Athrun stared, confused. Is she suddenly feeling better now? What's going on? "Sit." She ordered, and of course, Athrun complied. The two just stared at each other in silence. They were both contemplating what was going on in each other's mind.

Athrun knew she was undergoing a lot of stress. Situation in Orb wasn't the best, although the island nation has been recuperating quite well. She was basically cooped inside here…not that the relaxation wasn't necessary, or that the hostess has not been agreeable, but Cagalli Yula Attha wasn't the type that liked to stay quite in one place. The schemes she constantly plotted were evidences of that. Of course, a certain redhead wasn't helping to improve the situation…

"Athrun, maybe it's time I explained myself." Cagalli said, breaking the silence. "I know you know about Orb, my getting restless, and annoying Lucia. So I'm not going to bother talking about them, cause I'm not good with words."

"Cagalli…"

"No, don't interrupt." Cagalli cut him off. "Let me finish. I won't talk about them, but I'll tell you something you don't know. Maybe that will clear off some confusion." She glanced up to see his reaction. Athrun looked back patiently, waiting for her to continue. "I just feel helpless."

So that was it. He should have guessed it sooner. Athrun wanted to say something, but decided to let Cagalli finish.

"I always believed that if one had the will, the ideals, one could accomplish anything. That one just had to try hard enough for the right thing, and it would eventually work out." Cagalli suddenly got off from the chair, and circled to the other side of the room, fists clenched. "But now, things happen that can't be controlled. Things happen and go about the wrong way. Even when I'm in a position of power, when I believe in what is right, nothing ever seems to run smoothly. There are always complications, always stumbling blocks. And a lot of times, what has been planned end up completely different."

Reality shock. That was what it was. Athrun looked at the strong woman before him. Or rather, a scared girl that was hiding behind that façade. Cagalli was outspoken, loud, and even obnoxious to a certain extent. However, she was extremely idealistic. Even amongst many battles, whether it was physical warfare, or a contest of wits, she was naïve. She had a lot of growing up to do. And she was denying the fact.

"It's just…I feel so useless!"

He knew that Cagalli couldn't live a lie forever. She couldn't always put everything on ideals and disregard practicality. Someone had to break it to her. Preferably someone understanding. He looked at the frustrated princess before him. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Cagalli don't worry too much. Everything will work out in the end. We're all here for you. _I'm _here for you." With that, he slowly approached her from behind, wrapping his arms around her. A flash of light reflected off his hands, where a certain band rested. Then he realized that another flash was present as well.

"Thank you…" Cagalli managed to say. "You'll never leave me alone, will you?"

"Never."

"Good." Cagalli turned around, now with a playful smirk. "Cause I'm going to break your bones if you do!"

* * *

He seemed to get into a lot of situations lately in which he asked himself later on how he managed to fall into such predicaments. Yzak incessantly grumbled, as he continued to follow Arabella, shop after shop.

"We could rest a bit if you're getting tired." Arabella suggested. She only got a grunt in response. Feeling that if he wasn't bothered enough to give her a direct answer, he didn't deserve a break, Arabella continued on. To tell the truth, she wasn't exactly enjoying this either.

Yzak once again reviewed how he managed to get into this situation. He had decided to final settle their chess score, an event that continued to be interrupted by other fiascos. Today also contributed to the interruption. Right when he was about to enter, she was about to leave, almost causing them to crash into each other. So they went into one of their usual word bouts, an act which Dearka would refer to as "foreplay", which eventually led to the blond pilot's escape out of the room as Yzak's temper exploded. Of course, this time, Dearka wasn't present, so the contest went on until Arabella declared that she would be late for an appointment if they kept this up. Yzak being himself, couldn't help but comment that she was just trying to find an excuse to get away from him, because she couldn't think of anything to say back to him.

"Well then Yzak, if you insist so much that we continue this, I suggest that you come along with me. I wouldn't mind the company actually."

He set himself up. Just one simple word, "no." Of course, that vocabulary seemed to be lost to him when it came to Bella. Maybe he was just out of practice. He should talk to Zala more often. In the corner of his mind however, he knew that no amount of practicing would ever change him when it came to a certain princess. How irksome.

Having agreed to come along, he noticed something as the two of them sat in the car. "Wouldn't the people be surprised that their princess is roaming around the city unguarded?"

"Yzak, take a good look at me." Arabella smirked.

He did. She did look different, he gave her that. None of the usual pretty dresses, or even the nice, tailored, customized pants that she occasionally wore. Instead, she had donned on a regular pair of blue jeans, and a non-descriptive black shirt. But she still looked liked Arabella. She hadn't even bothered to put on her disguise.

Arabella smiled, sensing Yzak's confusion. "The reason I didn't bother putting on a disguise was because no one would recognize me anyways." She laughed, slightly bitter, the tone barely caught on by Yzak. "The people don't know me. They know an image. I could have Lucia dye her hair, wear color contacts and dress like me, and the public wouldn't know the difference." She snorted in contempt.

They got off the car, and instead started walking. Arabella smiled once again, this time out of amusement. "Besides, I am guarded." Yzak couldn't argue with that. If he did, he would technically be degrading himself. It was a lose-lose situation.

The two of them basically went into every shop they came across, although they skipped some, much to Yzak's relief. Once they passed by a lingerie shop, and he almost had a hard attack, thinking that they were going to go in there. He thanked whatever fortune that was with him when they went into a store two shops away instead. Even Arabella wasn't that sadistic. Besides, only the truly insane would buy Lucia lingerie.

The shop they currently went into seemed to be an art supply store, with a vast array of paints at the back wall, and oil pastels and other assortments stacked everywhere else. "Hm…let's see, I know Lucia took some art lessons and actually enjoyed it…" Arabella scrutinized the items. "But I don't think she worked with pastels that much…" She put back the set she had been looking at. "Maybe some paints will do…" With that, she walked towards the back wall, and soon an assistant approached her and offered help.

"Looks like your girlfriend really enjoys painting."

Yzak nearly jumped when another assistant snuck up at him. After regaining his composure, he protested. "She's not my…"

"Alright Yzak, I got everything I need now. We could go back." Not wanting to bother explaining to the assistant any longer, Yzak followed Arabella out.

"So…you paint?" Yzak asked.

"No, I never really tried." Arabella answered back, as she handed Yzak one of the bags. He gave an annoyed look, but didn't protest any further. After all, she was carrying the others.

"Wait, so all of these are for Lucia?" Yzak stared at her in disbelief. Two complete paint sets, palette, sketchbooks, stuffed animals, music box…only a few items out of the assortments they were currently carrying. "Why?"

Arabella sighed. "I told you about my no tolerance yet mercy policy, right?" Yzak nodded his head. He did remember Arabella mentioning it vaguely to him before. "I can't let Lucia roam around freely, saying whatever she wants just for the heck of it. There is absolutely no way I'll let her escape the consequences for her actions. However…" Her eyes softened. "I could understand that she's afraid, and insecure about things that she doesn't know much about. That's why she lashes out so much. To hide the fact that she's scared and uncertain. Oh, I know that she acts ill-natured just out of spite sometimes…" She laughed. "So I guess some things don't have sound explanations. But there's a bit of understanding…and also the fact that she just lost someone dear to her…" Arabella stared at the ground. "I can't let her get away with things, but I can try to make her a bit more comfortable with the little things."

"I see…" Yzak replied, not quite sure what to say.

"I do what I could do."

* * *

"Ray, I can walk by myself, leave me alone!"

"But I don't think you're stable…"

"Why is she so loud? I can hear her loud and clear inside." Dearka commented, clearly annoyed.

"I can be as loud as I want to if I feel like it!" Lucia screamed back as she and Ray entered the room.

A wave of sympathy filled them for a quick second. True, Lucia seemed disagreeable and bratty as usual. However, this time there was an unmistakable desperation, a trace of unbearable pain in her eyes. She didn't even bother to fake gracefulness anymore, and if it weren't for a very haggard looking Ray, she would have crumbled to the floor, raving mad.

"Come one Lucia, you could behave better than this…" Ray scolded.

"Your brother has a point." Cagalli added coldly yet offering useful advice. "Just wallowing in self-pity wouldn't accomplish anything. I doubt, regardless of how your father was, that he would want to see you in such pitiful state."

"What the hell would you know? You're just a spoiled natural brat!"

Infuriated, Cagalli swung her arm, ready to slap Lucia again. To the surprise of everyone, Lucia caught her arm. Now, Cagalli could have easily overpowered her and proceeded with the slap. However, the fact that Lucia managed to intercept her arm surprised Cagalli, stopping her for a second. And that second was enough for Lucia.

While holding onto Cagalli's wrist with her right hand, Lucia managed to pluck the ring off Cagalli's finger using her left hand. "So this is what he gave you." She commented with a malicious smile. "Idiotic girl, when will you learn to give up these fantasies of yours and realize that a Natural can never be with a Coordinator?"

With that, Lucia threw the object with all the strength she had left. The ring sailed across the room, through the window, shattering the glass, and into the garden, where it became lost.

* * *

Chapter done…

(Sigh) You would think that after such a gap between updates, the chapter would turn out halfway decent…

I don't know, maybe it's because of that gap that the characters seemed to be a bit OOC…constant thing I have to struggle with, along with adding descriptions…

Just when things were getting better, Lucia just had to ruin things…more Athrun and Cagalli troubles in the next chapter, along with other things XD.

Oh, and there were a lot of clues in this chapter dealing with: 1) In correlation to what Elise was spelling out. 2) What is going on with Elise in general.

All right, hope everyone is doing well, and I would love to hear from everyone! XD


	26. Inescapable Doubts

Update!

Sorry it took so long…been busy studying, drawing Arabella, working on my non-fanfiction fiction, the list goes on and on XD.

_Freedom Rising- _Thank you. It's nice to see someone appreciating a villain and not just the main characters.

_AnimeSiren- _Hm…that's strange…never noticed. XD

_Angel of Dreams- _Well, all I can say now is, you'll see…

_Yun Fei-_ It's good to see that you understand Lucia's side of the story. Not many do…

_LacusFan- _Well, he's getting better now though, isn't he? XD And thank you so much for the compliment.

_FallenANgelJulian- _Actually, he would be prince consort. (Same situation as Arabella's mother and father)

Thanks also to _asga, stuntsheep, Eternal Affinity, coypinoy, sworDieXeQtion, DarkFusion, anonymous _(whoever you are)_, sailor-z-360, ailiricxxz, justx4xfun04, YWEI YU, Ruler of the dark, jen, Kathy, Ren, _and _Satu-chan._

_

* * *

_

**Ch. 26: Inescapable Doubts**

"Did you guys give up too?"

Kira and Lacus turned around, and responded by nodding their heads. The group had gone outside to search for the ring, with the exception of Ray who went to secure Lucia in a room. Unfortunately, the searching led to no results. They had run to the spot the ring had been tossed out, thinking that it would be somewhere there. Instead, they received scratches from looking under bushes, Dearka got chased by a squirrel, Athrun tripped headfirst into a birdbath…overall, it was a very stressful day. But still they tried until it started getting dark.

"Think Athrun and Cagalli are still out there?" Elise asked.

"Maybe." Kira replied.

"But they won't be able to find it in the dark…"

"They probably realize that, but it might take them awhile to admit it." Lacus remarked.

"I suppose so…Ouch!" Elise, who had been walking backwards to face Kira and Lacus while talking, accidentally bumped into Ray, as he was locking the door behind him to keep Lucia from escaping.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you three coming over here." Ray apologized, scratching his head.

"No, no…it was my fault for not looking where I was going…Did Lucia do that to you?"

Ray looked away. "Yes…"

"Oh my goodness, how could she do this to you? After all you do for her…There's a scratch here, a reopened wound here…" Elise fretted in disbelief.

"It's alright, she's not in her right mind." Ray brushed it aside. "I think I'm going to go and rest now…"

"Oh, no you don't. Last time you just went to sleep without taking care of your wounds. This time I'm going to make sure you do." Elise glared at him stubbornly.

"No, I'm fine, really…" Ray waved his hands back and forth, sweat-dropping.

"No way! You're seriously going to get yourself hurt if you go on this way, and not to mention, that will get Bella extremely worried." Elise continued, not relenting.

Ray sighed, realizing that he'll never win. "Yes mother."

Kira and Lacus waved good night, as Ray and Elise went on their way. Then the two stayed silent for a couple minutes.

"Well Kira, I think we should be heading back to our rooms too." Lacus broke the silence. She grabbed Kira's hand, starting to lead the way. But she stopped, seeing that Kira wasn't moving.

"We should check just one more time."

Drawing a breath, Lacus turned around to face him. "Kira, I know you're worried, but doing that won't solve anything. It's too dark, there is no possibility that anyone would be able to find it now." She suddenly smiled. "Besides, the ring, although a symbol, is only a _symbol_, not the real thing. The two should be able to patch up their relationship with or without it."

Kira stayed still, pondering the idea. He nodded in understanding. "I guess you're right."

"Good." Lacus said cheerfully. Then the two proceeded to go do something that they both needed most at the moment: rest.

Lacus suddenly stopped. "Kira, you _do _have the ring I gave you before, right?"

* * *

"Ugh, that looks like a particularly ugly one." Elise commented, wiping the face wound with a clean, cool cloth. Ray winced as she did so. "Oh, stop being such a baby."

"I'm not…it really does hurt." Ray protested.

"Oh, so _now _you're admitting that these are pretty bad. What was all the denial about before, hypocrite?" Elise pouted.

"Well, I didn't want to worry anyone." Ray retorted back.

Elise glared at him with reproaching eyes. "Don't you realize that doing so eventually makes the situation worse?"

"Not if you can handle it on your own." He answered coldly.

Elise sighed in exasperation. "Sometimes you and Bella are exactly the same."

"Maybe that's why I'm her fiancée." Ray replied, with a slightly bitter tone that only Elise would be able to catch.

"Um…so, any other wounds that you're trying to hide from me?" Elise smiled, trying to change the subject.

"There are, but I doubt you would want to see them, unless you're like that." He replied, smirking.

"What do you mean…Oh…" Elise backed away, her face turning slightly red.

"Ha! You fell for it!" Ray started laughing, or rather, roaring, for he started to clutch his stomach.

"That wasn't nice!" Elise fumed, snatching up a cushion.

"Hahahahahaha…Ouch!" Ray continued to laugh until Elise started pegging him with the cushion, causing him to roll onto the floor.

"Uh oh, are you alright?" Elise looked down in concern, thinking that she had gone too far.

"Yea, I'm fine." Ray replied, smiling, getting back up. "It's funny though…I never had this much fun with Lucia."

"Never?"

"Never."

"Not even when you two were little?"

"No."

"Oh…I see…" Elise stammered, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sure you did, especially with how close you were with Arabella."

"Well…yes." Elise replied. After all, it wasn't as if she could lie to him about it.

"Must have been nice." He commented wistfully.

"Look who's one to talk." Elise replied, putting a hand on her hip. "The all popular Ray Yutare, surrounded by adoring fans…" She rolled her eyes.

"That was just superficial. I think it might have had more to do with the family name, and the fact that I was older than the rest of you. They didn't really adore me, they adored the reputation."

"You're only three years older than me. But about the family name, well, I guess you have a point." Elise remarked, tracing something on the floor with her feet.

"I guess…" Ray suddenly changed the subject. "Speaking of Arabella…"

* * *

She crumbled to the floor, as soon as she shut the door behind her. "I can't believe I'm going through with this." Elise wanted to pull out her hair and scream, but she knew she would attract attention that way. "And I can't attract attention if I want to continue with the plan."

Her mind filled with conflict. She shouldn't be doing this. This was going way to far. Did her senses die on her? She had erased the line the minute she agreed to do this. Of course, helping Bella was a good thing, but if she continued, would her actions be harmful instead?

She started pacing back and forth. No, she had to do this. She had deciphered the documents, and went through the list. They were all important, but one specific thing brought on attention. She had to go, she had to figure out what it was used for…there were so many questions that needed to be answered. Perhaps then, would things start becoming peaceful…

And yes, she couldn't waste time. She had to do this before an opposing side realizes that she found out something, and try to stop her…or rather use her knowledge to further their own goals.

Talking to Ray had made her more determined. She recalled the conversation once again. Yes, she couldn't just sit back and watch such a good friend suffer. She had to do something about it.

* * *

Cagalli paced back and forth across her room, restless. She couldn't believe it. Fuming, she grabbed a pillow and started smacking things with it. She would have gladly used her fists instead, but she still had enough sense to realize that damaging the furniture might not be the best idea.

And everything was starting to work out too!

Okay, maybe it was just a ring. But it was a ring that _he _gave to _her_, as a _promise_ to be with her forever. It was important! And it was all ruined thanks to a certain red-haired, racist, sadistic, obnoxious Coordinator brat. She had half a mind to go, barge into Lucia's room, and start beating the pulp out of her.

Perhaps she would have moved on. It wasn't as if Athrun couldn't give her another ring. But what made her angry has the look in Athrun's eyes. Surprised? Worried? Doubtful? The last part seriously made her want to scream out of the room. He didn't doubt, did he? He couldn't! She knew that she could trust Athrun better than that. But…

She hadn't been herself recently. In fact, she had downright looked pathetic and idiotic. She seemed useless, and instead put a lot of strain on Athrun with her constant complaining. Maybe that changed his mind?

No, Athrun wasn't fickle like that. He would stand by her side, no matter what.

Would he?

She reproached herself. "Cagalli Yula Attha, you're pathetic!" How could she be so uncertain? What was wrong with her? Why the sudden change of character? When was she so vulnerable?

She couldn't deal with all these confusing emotions. And something at the back of her mind kept prodding her. Maybe _she _was the one that doubted.

She cried herself to sleep that night.

* * *

"Why do you put up with them?"

"I don't know."

Yzak and Arabella sat across from each other, with a chest set placed between them. This was starting to become a daily routine, except they weren't playing right now. Yzak scrutinized her carefully. Was it really because she didn't know, or was she hiding something from him again?

"You know, you have nothing that's holding you back from breaking away from them." Yzak continued.

"There's nothing that's making me either." She replied matter-of-fact.

That stung. So there was nothing making her… "I think Lucia is a very good reason." He managed to say.

Arabella sighed. "That's true, but that's not Ray's fault. Besides, I can't break my bow. Not to mention how that will appear…"

"That's all you care about, your image, isn't it?" Yzak replied cruelly. He regretted right after he said that. That went a bit too far.

Arabella had a sad look in her eyes. "Oh, so is that what you think of me? I thought you would know me better than that." Then she suddenly shifted to anger. "Is it that hard for you to understand why I'm doing this? Maybe you're not fit to be a politician then."

"If you want to put it that way, you're not fit to be a human being!" Yzak yelled back, standing up at the same time. Both knew at the back of their heads that this argument wasn't necessary, and that it was completely going the wrong direction. But they couldn't stop themselves.

"You manipulate people, hide things from them, set them up so that they will act the way that would benefit you. Not only to your opponents, but to all those that want to support you. If that's what it is to be a politician, then I won't be one!" He continued to yell.

"Then don't be one!" She yelled back. "But you shouldn't fool yourself to thinking that politicians are the only one's that do that. Human beings generally do that. In the end, we all have our selfish motives somewhere and we step on other people in the process of obtaining it." She took one step towards him. "What are your motives, Yzak?"

"And what are yours?" He retorted back. "All that manipulating and keeping things from others had to be for some selfish reason."

"I do it for my…"

"Maybe you do, but I get the feeling that you're actually enjoying it, that you're becoming addicted to it." He glanced at the chess pieces. "I think I now know why you enjoy playing this game so much. You like to strategize everything, and not to mention, being in control."

"You're the one to talk!" She snapped, getting angrier by the minute.

"Yes, I _am_ the one to talk, because I know what it's like. So don't give me any of this 'you don't know what you're talking about' attitude and instead look me straight in the eye and tell me that it isn't true!"

Arabella was determined to prove Yzak wrong. She glared at him straight, and was about to say…then doubt came into her mind. Maybe she did think that way. Yzak might be right. After all, knowledge was power. But the real question was, did she revel in it? She didn't know.

Yzak smirked, seeing her hesitation. But the smirk seemed to be directed at himself as much as he directed it at her. "That's what I thought." With that he left, leaving a very confused Arabella behind.

She didn't even bother looking at him as he left. Instead, she stayed with her head down, pondering his statement. In one swift motion, she knocked all the chess pieces off the table. Then she herself crumbled to the ground.

"Why…why does everything have to be so complicated…" She stammered, holding back her tears.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Miriallia sighed. It was a horrible day, and no doubt things would continue this way for awhile. She felt a bit guilty that she seemed to be problem free whereas everyone else seemed to struggle with something. But of course, it wasn't as if she could do anything about it. Besides, only the insane would purposely try to bring problems on themselves… She came face to face with Yzak.

"Hi." She managed to say, before moving on. He only grunted in response. Miriallia noticed that he seemed even colder than usual, but she didn't want to pry, so we went on her way. Suddenly she felt something stop her.

"Let's talk."

She didn't know what to say. _He _wanted to talk to _her_? What was going on? Seeing that he started to give her an irritated look, she sat down across from him on a sofa.

"So…um…"

"What's going on between you and Dearka?"

Miriallia closed her mouth shut, surprised at the question. What was he getting at? "I don't know what you're talking about." She responded, acting as if she was confused.

Yzak snorted. "So you too, huh? People and their ways of keeping secrets…Maybe she was partly right after all." He added as an afterthought.

"Excuse me?" Miriallia remarked, now truly confused.

"Nothing." Yzak brushed it aside.

"Well, since I don't understand what you're trying to say, I'm going to go now…" Miriallia stammered, trying to get away from having to tell him anything.

He grabbed her arm. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

"What...I don't understand what it is that you're trying to find out."

"Okay then, let me enlighten you." Yzak said, rolling his eyes. "It's obvious that he still has feelings for you. The looks he gives you are obvious enough for even an eight year old to notice. So I'm sure you noticed too." He smirked.

Miriallia froze. Indeed, she did notice Dearka still looking at her affectionately. But he had said… "Dearka said himself that we should just be friends." Miriallia replied, curtly.

Yzak laughed. "Do you honestly think that that was what he wanted?" Miriallia was at a loss of words. "He said that for your benefit, because he didn't want you to feel uncomfortable, especially when you were still mourning for someone else." He continued. "So it's obvious that his feelings for you are still there. The question is then, what is your response to that?"

Miriallia drew in a deep breath. So what did she think of him now? True, before she hadn't even considered him. And in fact, she guiltily admitted, she had compared him to Tolle numerous times, and found that he was lacking. However, that was then. Now, after she had got to know him better, she realized that Dearka matched the standards, and in some cases, exceeded them. So problem solved, right?

Wrong. It only got her more confused. Why was it that she didn't have a definite answer? By now, it was clear that it wasn't he that had faults. It was she that had the doubts and the stubbornness not to move on. And here she had been thinking a few minutes ago that she didn't have problems…

Yzak smirked, seeing the turmoil in her mind. "I guess you need to figure it out." He stood, and started to leave. "But one thing. Don't lead him on." He turned around, his eyes flashing dangerously. She kept herself from recoiling right away. "Because if you do, you're going to regret it."

* * *

Arabella couldn't sleep. Her mind kept on bothering her. "Just forget about it." She scolded herself. Unfortunately, that didn't work. She sat up in exasperation. Maybe a walk would freshen up her mind. She decided to do just that.

Walking softly, she passed by many corridors, making sure not to disturb anyone. Moonlight passed through the windows, illuminating her silent form. She felt like a wandering spirit, passing through the world of the living, while they all slumbered peacefully. She had to stop her urge to laugh. Such silly thoughts…Elise was rubbing off on her.

"And what's a lovely lady like you doing alone in the middle of the night?"

Arabella turned around swiftly, surprised at the voice. She found a certain blond ZAFT smirking at her.

"Dearka, stop playing around, or I'll tell Miriallia on you." She chided him.

"Don't know if she'll even care." Dearka smiled, although he seemed a bit sad.

"I'm sure she will." Arabella reassured him. "So don't go breaking her heart!"

"More like she's the one that's doing the breaking…" He murmured. "So anyways, what are you doing up so late? Couldn't sleep?"

"Yea…" She answered. "You too?"

Dearka nodded. "It seems though no one's actually getting any restful sleep right now. By the way, why did Yzak seem so furious, that is, more than usual?"

"No idea." Arabella stated flatly.

Dearka cocked an eyebrow. Clearly he wasn't going to buy that. "You two got into an argument, right?"

"Since when does anyone not get into an argument with Yzak?" Arabella countered back.

"True, but I think you two got into a real argument."

Arabella sighed. There was no way to get out of it. "So what if we did?"

"Arabella, don't break his heart."

She froze, not knowing how to react. Where did that come from?

"As if I ever have to worry about that." She retorted, once she regained her composure.

Dearka protested. "But it's obvious that he…"

"How can he even have affection for me if he doesn't even bother to understand me?" She argued.

Dearka took in a deep breath. "Okay, I understand that he's not the easiest person to get along…"

"And it's not as if he's ever affected by what I say. He just smirks and goes off on his own." She murmured.

Dearka shook his head. "I think you're both misunderstanding each other."

"How so?" Arabella tilted her head, curious.

Dearka sighed. "Contrary to what most people believe, Yzak is very vulnerable. That's why he always goes off yelling at other people, because he doesn't want them to be close to him. He believes that the closer a person gets to him, the more damage the person will eventually do to him."

"In a sense that's true." Arabella commented.

"I guess I'll have to agree with that too, but life isn't exactly enjoyable either when you're all alone." Dearka replied. Arabella couldn't help but nod her head.

"I think that he probably lashed back at you because you had earned his trust, but ended up disappointing him in some way. He probably took it farther than he intended."

"He's probably always disappointed in me, so there probably isn't much I can do." Arabella sighed.

"There is just one thing you need to do. That is to care for him back." Dearka thought to himself. He wanted to say it to her, but he realized that it would led to another big dilemma. Also, he wasn't sure if he was the one that should be telling her this. Yzak should tell her himself.

"Life's never easy, is it?" Arabella remarked, breaking Dearka's train of thought.

"No, it isn't."

* * *

Athrun watched as the lights went off one by one. He was still outside.

It was pointless of him to still be outside. There was no way for him to find it in the dark. This was irrational. He knew all this, but still tried anyways. Carefully, he crawled on the ground, hoping that perhaps that by some miracle he'll feel the ring on the ground and find it. No such luck.

Cagalli. There was absolutely no doubt that he loved her. And he had no doubt that she felt the same way. But what exactly would be the true expression of love?

Athrun Zala, son of Patrick Zala, pride of ZAFT…the list could go on and on. Cagalli Yula Attha, the goddess of victory, ruler of Orb…that list could go on and on too. But the main question was, could these two be together without causing suffering for one another and those around them?

It wasn't just about a Natural and a Coordinator being together. And even that wasn't such a simply matter. In their case, it was their positions, their ideals, and their status in the eyes of the world that also contributed to conflict.

He knew that he need only ask, and Cagalli would not hesitate but join him in matrimony. But he also knew that even with the happiness, pain will also come. Could he, if he really loved her, put her through that?

And what…what about their children? Athrun couldn't help but blush at the thought of having children with Cagalli. But that matter aside, could he possibly put their children through what would be inevitable? Half-breeds…people would mock them, torture them, never letting them rest. And since they were neither, they would have only a few places to turn for comfort. He knew prejudice was inevitable, wherever you went, and whoever you were. But would they be able to cope?

A sudden idea came into his mind. He was going to have a talk with Arabella.

* * *

Chapter done XD

Ugh, people are going to hate me for what I did in this chapter…but it had to be done…what I could say though is that I feel sorry for all of them.

And yes, not much action going on here, but couldn't really help that.

Next chapter…well, all I'm going to say is that there are going to be more and more misunderstanding…(I REALLY feel sorry for them)

Oh, and does anyone know where I can get a free webpage that doesn't end up having mass amounts of pop ups, and is still pretty decent at the same time? Livejournal has been annoying me recently, so I've been thinking about moving all info and other things about my writing stuff to a webpage instead. I would love the input.

Oh and of course, thanks for reading XD.


	27. Unrequited

First off, let me apologize for the lack of updates. I'm truly sorry that I kept people waiting. Since it's going to be summer vacations soon, I promise that I will update more frequently.

Second, there are reviews I want to and should answer. But at this point, I realize that I should just go on with the story. If there's something important that anyone wants an answer to, ask me again, and next time I'll answer. XD

People are seriously going to kill me after this chapter though…you've been warned…

* * *

**Ch. 27: Unrequited**

"Here's your food Lucia." Ray entered the room slowly, leaving the tray on a small table next to the bed. Lucia had her back turned towards him, ignoring his presence. Sighing, he closed the door behind him on his way out. He almost jumped backwards when he found Cagalli standing right in front of him.

"Mind if I talk to you?" Cagalli asked, not caring if she sounded blunt.

"Oh…you want to talk to _me_?" Ray started to scratch his head nervously. What could she possible want to talk to him of all people about?

"Yes."

"Right here, right now?" Ray asked, looking back and forth.

"Yes, unless you have a better place and time in mind."

"Well, not really…"

"How are you and Lucia so different?"

"Huh?" Ray remarked, taken off guard by the random question. What was she trying to get at? "What makes you think we're so different?" He asked innocently.

Cagalli glared at him. "You know what I mean."

"Well…" He started fidgeting. "It's not as if we had that many different friends, parents, upbringing, society…I actually don't know."

Cagalli looked at him directly in the eye. He did seem…sincere, she supposed. "What makes a person who he or she is? What constitutes truth? Is it their environment? Or genetic makeup? What makes a person different from another? And what is it about living things that uses differences to compete against one another? Maybe it's something else that's completely different…" She had been addressing the questions to Ray, but it soon became evident that she was also asking those questions again to herself.

Ray shrugged in response. "Who knows? Scientists, philosophers, and practically everyone had asked and tried to solve those questions. And so far, no one has come up with an ultimate answer."

"I suppose." Cagalli broke out of her reverie. She seemed to have made a decision. "Well, thank you for your time Ray." With that, she went on her way.

Ray's eyes narrowed slightly, as he watched her retreating form. "You have no idea just to what length desperate people would go to search for the answers."

* * *

"What are you doing Kira?"

Startled by the sudden presence behind him, he jerked up, almost falling out of the chair. He looked up to find Miriallia laughing at him. "That wasn't that funny you know…" he grumbled.

"Aw…are you mad? Poor, poor Kira…" She mocked.

The two of them stared straight at each other, blinking twice. "Okay, that was just weird."

"Anyways, what are you doing?" Miriallia asked, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.

"Huh?" Kira stared back at her, suddenly panicking. "Um…uh….nothing! Yea, nothing…"

"Hm…are you sure?" She asked grinning, moving around him to reach the table. "Then what is this?" She remarked, picking up a map of the city that had been on the table.

"Um…nothing…" Kira stammered.

"It doesn't look like nothing to me," Miriallia pointed towards the pile of pamphlets and flyers currently occupying the remainder of the space.

"Well…if you really want to know…" Kira turned red with embarrassment. "I was trying to plan something for Lacus's birthday…"

"Oh, that's right! It's only a couple days away!" A smirk began to form in her mouth. "So, the depressed, passive Kira Yamato is finally taking an initiative to plan something for his girlfriend?"

"Um…I guess…but I don't know if you should call her my girlfriend just yet…" Kira stopped, and stared out the window.

The two stayed silent for awhile. Kira continued his gazing, and Miriallia sat down on a nearby chair, going into a reverie of her own.

"You know…we never really _talked_ after the war…" Kira started, taking a deep breath.

"No, we didn't." She replied, matter-of-fact.

Silence filled the room once again, as the two contemplated on what to say. They both sat down awkwardly, and continued to fidget.

"Is…is she still on your mind?" Miriallia whispered.

Kira continued to stay silent, musing over the idea. "Not in the same way as before." He stated, seeming resolved. "I guess I can never completely forget her, and I guess regret might come forth once in a while…but it's not something that I brood on constantly anymore. It's all just a part of my memories now."

"Then where does Lacus stand?"

Kira sighed, "I'm not sure yet." He expected to see Miriallia look back at him in contempt, but instead he found interest in her eyes. Seeing this, he continued, "I am, definitely attached to her. There's no point in me denying it anymore. But…I don't know if it's love…and if it is, I don't know if I'm ready for it yet."

"It's not so easy to fall in love again, is it?"

Kira glanced up, surprised at her statement. "You…"

Miriallia laughed, seeing Kira's reaction. But her smile soon took an ironic turn. "People expect us to forget and move on. They nudge us, telling us that it's all in the past. And they are right, in the sense that we need to accept the present and move forward." She sighed. "But when they expect us to move on, in the sense of falling for someone else again right away, I don't think they really understand what they are asking."

"Because truly falling in love again takes time." Kira answered for her.

"That's right." Miriallia smiled. "If it were otherwise, it would be considered a rebound." She shook her head. "Each relationship is different from another. To start another one right away is to just try and fill in the gap. It's unfair to both sides. In order for the new relationship to last, it can't be exactly the same as the previous one. So the hurt person must heal, be able to stand on his own, and then perhaps enter into another relationship."

"It seems that you have been giving this a lot of thought." Kira remarked.

"Well, I guess so…and what about it, huh?" She glared back at him.

"I'm just curious about what brought on this development." Kira smirked.

Miriallia couldn't do anything but gape for a few seconds. "You better not be implying what I think you're implying." She warned him sternly.

"And what if I am?" Kira teased, before he ran for his life.

* * *

Dearka walked through the corridors, towards Miriallia's room, when he picked up a faint sound to his right.

_Enchanting smell of the lilac breeze,_

_Tranquility composing its soft melody._

_The rhythm of my heart pounds,_

_Waiting for the familiar rustle._

Someone was humming a tune. Intrigued, Dearka followed the sound.

_The last rays of the sun beam down,_

_Reflecting my shadow on to the ground._

_Yet sometimes I can't recognize my own_

_Waiting for another to come by._

A few steps away from him stood a dazed blonde girl, who continued to look absent-minded at the setting sun. So absorbed was she that she didn't notice his presence until he had tapped her shoulders several times.

_Crickets take their positions_

_Ready to sing their midnight chorus._

_The last of the breeze comes by,_

_Saying goodbye to the lilacs for now._

"Oh, hello." She managed to say, although her eyes looked bewildered.

"Hey you, I haven't seen you for quite awhile. It's almost as if you don't live within the same building anymore." Dearka joked, attempting to get a reaction from her. She only nodded in response. "Um…okay…" Dearka shook his head, fazed by her action, or rather, the lack of it.

"How are you and Miriallia doing?"

W..Wh…What!" Dearka stammered, taken aback by the sudden question.

"It's a simple question." She stated plainly.

"Well…I…" Dearka sighed, resigned. "It's pretty evident that I have feelings for her. But…"

"When the feeling is unrequited, it hurts, doesn't it?"

"Why…yes…" Dearka replied back bitterly, although at the same time taken off-guard by her statement. And taking into account just who he was speaking to added to his surprise and curiosity.

"Can I ask for your opinion on something?"

"Not that I have a choice in the matter…" he thought to himself. "Sure."

"Tell me, does it hurt more to have unrequited love, or to have mutual feelings yet due to circumstances have to push each other away?"

Dearka looked at her curiously. Of all questions for her to ask, why did she have to ask that specific one?

"I don't know…" He scratched his head. "I've never been in such situations."

"I see…" She then proceeded to stare back outside.

"Um…alright…I'll see you later Elise!" Sensing that she wanted to be alone, Dearka nervously made his exit.

Elise sighed.

_I free my final sigh,_

_Withdrawing from the meadow,_

_Yet always hoping,_

_Perhaps we'll meet another day._

* * *

"Yzak, have you seen Kira?"

"No."

"Well, could you tell him that I'm looking for him, if he happens to come this way?"

"And what does that have anything to do with me?"

Suddenly, Yzak came face to face with a mildly annoyed Lacus Clyne (if it's actually possible for her to be annoyed, that is). "Is that a way to treat your, perhaps former, idol?"

"Who…what!" Yzak jumped back, alarmed. "Who told you such nonsense?"

Lacus had on a slight smirk. "I have my ways…"

"You actually believe such rumors?" He attempted to laugh it off, but that didn't convince Lacus.

"Oh, really? Then is it just coincidence that your former teammates have spotted all seven CDs of my platinum collection on a very visible part of your desk?"

"Um…that was long time ago!" Yzak retreated, by this time, fully embarrassed.

"If you say so…" Lacus replied, although she didn't buy his explanation. Seeing that Yzak had returned to his sulking mood, she decided to approach him about it. "You know, just go and talk to her…"

"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about." Yzak cut in, not caring how blunt he sounded.

Lacus sighed, "If both of you continue to go on like this, it's only going to be more and more painful as the days go by."

"Why don't you go and tell that to her?" He grumbled.

"Regardless of how she's acting, it's still your responsibility too to do something about it." She replied calmly.

"Hmph."

Lacus backed away slightly, giving him some space. Then she put on her best smile, and said, "Could you at least give it a try? This is a favor from your idol, you know…"

Yzak just glared back. But after a few seconds of the glaring contest, he sighed, "What do I have to do…"

* * *

She had no choice in the matter.

Day by day, she's been slipping.

And she had been told that they will be after her, and use her, if she didn't act now.

"Pray to eternity that…" She stopped, sensing the irony of the statement. Pray? As if that word and thought could ever be used in light of the situation…of the deserted colony that had been the foundation of so much bloodshed…But then again, the name was an irony itself. The discovery of one that had been devoted to his faith…that discovery which eventually came into clash with the things that he believed in.

"Pray to eternity that my decision would prove to be the right one."

She grabbed her coat, and slipped into darkness.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Cagalli and Yzak yelled in unison.

"Well, what's it to you?" Cagalli retorted. "It's not like I'm not allowed in this room."

"Then why are you asking me the same question?" Yzak sneered back.

"Just…just because!" Cagalli retorted. "And if you must know, I've been looking for Athrun."

"Figures," Yzak remarked, ignoring the death glares Cagalli sent his way.

"Well then, why are _you_ sneaking around?"

"I'm not sneaking around! And I'm looking for someone too!"

"Good for you!" With that, Cagalli turned around. "Since Athrun's obviously not here, I'm going to go somewhere else." Seeing that Yzak was also trying to leave, she gave him a glare. "Don't follow me."

"Who said I was?" Yzak smirked, leaving Cagalli infuriated.

* * *

Athrun stood outside the door, making his final decision. He had been contemplating the situation the whole day, staying alone to gather his thoughts. Taking a deep breathe, he proceeded to knock on the door. Point of no return.

"Come in."

Slowly, he proceeded inside. He found her sitting down, twirling her chess pieces, absent-minded. However, upon spotting Athrun, she immediately left them alone, and proceeded to approach him.

"Athrun! What a surprise! What can I do for you?"

"You know, I used to play that a lot." Athrun pointed at the pieces. "And it was always amusing to see Yzak throw a tantrum every time he lost to me."

"Hm…really?"

He saw her smile, and his resolve started to falter. What he was going to say would most likely change her demeanor. He could just lie and be on his way. But he had come all this way…

"Tell me how it's like being half."

* * *

"I just realized that I checked everywhere but her room." Yzak confessed.

Cagalli looked at him in contempt. "You're an idiot."

* * *

Arabella froze. Her knuckles turned deadly white as she grasped the head of a nearby chair firmly. "How…how did you know…"

"Lucia." He replied simply.

"I…I see…" She struggled to gather control over herself. "Does everyone else know?"

"Yes."

She hesitated before asking the next question. "And…how does Yzak feel about this?"

Athrun shook his head truthfully. "I don't know."

Arabella swallowed, finally getting back her composure, although it was evident that she was still shaken up a bit. "Would you like to sit down first?"

Athrun nodded. The two proceeded to sit on a sofa, next to each other.

"Why is it that you want to know?" Arabella asked softly.

"It's because…" Athrun stammered not able to look at her directly in the eye. "I want to know…just how hard and painful it is. I want to know just how hard it is for the parents to realize that they created a friendless life for their child. I want to know how it feels for the child to always know, that they are different…that they're not one or the other. And if it's too painful…for everyone involved…too much of a price to pay…if unhappiness eventually rules over momentary bliss…I think I might give up on…"

He could have never guessed the slap coming his way.

* * *

"So why are you following me again?" Yzak asked, staring at Cagalli.

"I'm not following you."

"Right…"

* * *

Athrun stared back at Arabella in disbelief. Did she just…

"Don't you dare even THINK about doing something like that, Athrun Zala!" She glared at him, enraged. "Don't use something like that as an excuse to leave her! It's not fair to her, or you, or anyone else that might come along."

"But I don't want to hurt anyone, especially Cagalli, and perhaps our future…"

Arabella sighed, starting to calm down. Or trying to, at least. "Alright, you wanted an honest opinion, right? I'm going to give it to you. It's not easy being half. Many times I become so lost as to who I am, and just what I'm suppose to accomplish. A lot of times, I feel miserable, not knowing just who to turn to. And it's a stab to the heart when people turn their backs on me because I'm different." She paused for a second before continuing, "But, never in my life had I blamed my parents for these problems."

"Why…why not?" Athrun asked, confused. "After all, the only reason you have to deal with those issues is because of them…"

"My mother loved my father. And he loved her just as much. Because of that, they had given me life. They had given me the chance to experience the joys of living, even though pain came along with them. Of course, there had been times when I did want to blame them. But then I always knew, that it wasn't _them_ that caused the tragedies…it was the people, the people that were prejudiced that caused the pain. And with their last dying breathe, they did all they could to protect me. Because of the promise I made to them then…I learned something worth learning…that I should understand the pains that people are going through before I judge and abhor them. That I shouldn't let blind prejudice cloud my judgment. And that, to rule this state with that in mind, even if it meant self-sacrifice…"

She suddenly stopped, causing Athrun to wonder what had just transpired within her mind. "I…I guess I haven't lived up to that, have I?" She suddenly looked away, ashamed. "I…I guess I shouldn't be the one lecturing you…"

Feeling compassionate, Athrun reached out for her hand.

* * *

"I hear voices…I guess she's in here…hm, that sounds like Athrun."

"Where?" Cagalli rushed towards the door, which had been left slightly ajar. Yzak followed soon after.

But both came to regret it, wishing they had not witnessed the sight before them.

* * *

"Don't go blaming yourself." Athrun assured her, still holding her hand. "I for one am glad I had this talk. If it weren't for you, I would have been haunted with the dilemma for a long time, and seeing how stupid I can be sometimes, I might have made the wrong decision. And I could see that you truly try to honor your parents' memory. You are one of the most effective and accomplished princesses I've ever known."

"Thank you," she replied, smiling back.

They suddenly became aware of two other presences within the room. Presences with angry eyes.

"Cagalli!" Athrun called, happily. "I was just going to go and look for you…"

"To tell me that it's over?" Cagalli spat angrily, and then ran out of the room. Yzak followed soon after, with the same menacing death glare.

"What in the world…" Then realization hit them both.

"Oh no…you don't think, that they think…"

* * *

Done.

Sigh…my writing has deteriorated significantly. Tempted to bang my head on the table.

And please, don't kill me for what I did to this chapter…as much as I hated to do it, it just had to be done…I know, I want to go and cry too…so much misunderstandings…

And as to why it ended up being Arabella (and no, it's not because I wanted to promote my main OC): Lacus would have been a good candidate, but the problem is that it's been overdone. I wanted something a bit different for once. Miriallia…we don't even need to go there…seeing how this story is turning out, it wouldn't have been believable. Lucia…please, don't make me laugh…And Elise…well, she has other things occupying her right now…and there are other reasons, and the role she is to play…you'll eventually find out…So, much as I would have liked to put the spotlight on someone else, I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter...

I had put in MANY subtle hints in this chapter.

On a side note, the Kira and Miriallia section is dedicated to one of my friends, who is currently having a hard time dealing with a similar issue (similar, not the same), and the Dearka and Elise section is dedicated to another friend of mine. Not that any of them would read my fanfiction anyways, but that doesn't keep me from dedicating sections to them. XD

Oh, and the poem is mine. I know, it sucks, and I should be ashamed to claim it, but oh well…

Next chapter…hm…tension everywhere…it's going to get very interesting and ugly…you wouldn't want to miss it (that is, if I manage to do a half decent job in writing it…ugh…need to improve writing…).

Thank you for reading! XD


	28. Unveiling Truth

Update!

I know I promised a quick update, but having a full-time summer internship takes away a lot of time…

And here I am not answering to reviews again…mostly because I haven't checked my email for awhile and when I finally decided to, it was packed…

Should go sign that petition too…but I'm sure it's pretty late by now and there are already 200 signatures. XD

Anyways, on to the story…

* * *

**Ch. 28: Unveiling Truth**

Cagalli rushed back into her room, not looking back. She refused to acknowledge the protests being yelled from somewhere behind her, as tears streamed from her eyes. Not caring who heard, she slammed the door, locking it securely. Soon, she heard him outside, banging on the door, begging her to open. She refused to do so. Instead, she rolled into a ball, and sat quietly in the middle of the bed.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to break things. She wanted to beat him to a pulp. She wanted to…

But she felt so helpless. She shook her head, trying to shake off the confusion in her mind. When…when were they so close? Sure, they talked, but he was always with her, and Arabella was always off doing her own things…

She wanted to believe that she had been mistaken. And in all rationality, that seemed to be the case. But something…just something was holding her back. She couldn't describe it. Or maybe, she just didn't want to believe that there was nothing going on at the scene that she witnessed.

But that didn't make sense! Why would she want to purposely believe in something that will end the relationship she had with Athrun for good?

She just wanted to get away…to end all of this…

* * *

"Cagalli! Open up!" Athrun yelled at the top of his lungs. He continued to bang on the door, wanting to just break it open. Just when things could have started to get better, another nightmare made itself a reality. But he just couldn't understand…how could she misunderstand what went on?

He felt confused. Just what went through her mind when she witnessed the scene? Sure, if the girl was insecure, she could have mistaken the friendly gestures as something else, but Cagalli wasn't the insecure type. At least…she didn't appear to be on the outside. Throughout their stay in this place, he started to find out more and more just how vulnerable Cagalli really was…and how she hid that side of her by overexerting the rash side of her.

He felt guilty. Even though he was happy that he received such an uplifting response from Arabella, he should have refrained from acting out his gladness in such a way. Sure, all he did was hold her hand and stay a bit closer to her than he normally would have, and he didn't expect Cagalli to be there. Regardless, he should have been in control of himself more. He shouldn't have created a reason for Cagalli to doubt herself even more.

He felt angry. Why did she doubt herself? Why did she doubt him? How could she not realize just how much he cared for her? She wouldn't be acting like this, if she was confident that he truly loved her. How could she not believe him? His feelings for her were written all over him. How could she just ignore that and let a simple incident like this shake her so much? What ridiculous thoughts crowded up her mind?

Giving up on making Cagalli open her door, he gave the door one last swift kick and proceeded to lock himself up in his own room. The next instant he turned around and gave the blank walls a swift punch.

"Yzak would be so proud of me now…" Athrun remarked bitterly, looking at the dent in the wall which was usually the trademark of the Duel pilot. But thinking of Yzak only made him shudder, for he realized that he would eventually have to face him.

His mind was so cluttered up…he couldn't keep up his charade of being the perfect soldier, the perfect friend, the perfect boyfriend…

All he wanted was peace…just the state of mind where everything was tranquil…

Cagalli wasn't the only one that cried herself to sleep that night.

* * *

"Damn you Zala!"

Yzak stomped across his room, tossing and turning everything in his path. He couldn't contain his rage. The unfortunate items in his room continued to be abused, yet his anger refused to dissipate.

"I HATE YOU!"

He continued to scream at the top of his lungs as he ripped the curtains off the hangers and proceeded to tear the expensive fabric into shreds. That didn't seem to help him much either.

He suddenly got the urge to punch something again…hard. The wall began to seem like a good target.

"Why…" He punched.

"Won't he…" And again.

"Ever…" Again.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" And again.

His hands became covered with his blood, as drops of it slowly trickled onto the floor. Yet he didn't care. That kind of pain he dealt with all the time.

Athrun Zala, the pride of ZAFT. The boy that always managed to take everything away from him. Regardless of what he did, how hard he tried, Athrun would always come out of nowhere, unexpected, and take everything away, making all his efforts and results worthless.

Yet back then he managed to take all of that in. Even to a certain point, he begrudgingly respected Athrun, even though he would never admit it out loud. But this time, the blow was too low…

And her too…

He collapses onto the bed, his hands clutching his head. His old-self smacked him silly for being the current fool that he was. He should have known better. How could he let himself be out in the open like that? How could he let down his guard? He had been the fool, believing that he could attain the happiness and company that everyone else took for granted. And how did he start believing that the line between Coordinators and Naturals can be blurred?

Naturals…they were all the same…even those that weren't fully Naturals. They all have their schemes, spreading deceit, ready to take down the Coordinator race. None of them were truly sincere…they only did things to suit their needs. And yet at the same time, they never could keep things in control. If only that fool of a princess managed keep her "boyfriend" under control, none of this would have happened. Her blubbering and lack of security had begun to sicken him, and he didn't even have to deal with it like Zala did.

Naturals weren't worth being around. Anyone weak didn't deserve to be around. They only ruined the lives of the strong.

He couldn't believe he had fooled himself into believing otherwise.

Yet something kept on nagging him. Something seemed to be calling him back.

"Shut up! Yzak Joule you're an idiot! You fell into their tricks already, and yet you're still looking back!"

He hated everyone and everything. But most of all, he hated himself.

* * *

"But they wouldn't do that!" Miriallia and Lacus exclaimed in unison. It was surprisingly a nice day, with the sun shining its rays gently inside, making the inhabitants forget that it was winter. Having heard the racket last night, Lacus, Miriallia, and Kira had decided to inquire just what had happened.

"Are you sure it's just not a misunderstanding? Sometimes if you see something in a wrong angle, even the most innocent of gestures can look scandalous." Miriallia suggested.

"Athrun truly cares for you, Cagalli." Lacus added earnestly. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for what happened."

"Maybe you should talk to him first and try to solve what went on," Miriallia urged.

"I don't want to talk to him now." Cagalli stated flatly.

"But this is why there's always misunderstandings and unnecessary breakups. There has to be communication going on, or everything will be bottled up, and inner resentment grows…"

Lacus looked at Miriallia in surprise. "I didn't know that you…"

"Well, this is why I got along so well with Tolle…" Miriallia gave a weak smile. "It might take awhile before I find someone else like that…"

"Or maybe you're just blind," Lacus wanted to add, but refrained from doing so.

"I'm going to talk with Athrun."

The other three looked in surprise as Kira, who had stayed quiet the whole conversation had suddenly stood up and proceeded out the room.

"Kira, wait!" Lacus chased after him. "Kira please hear me out first!"

Kira continued on his way, but then hesitated, and turned around. "What is it, Lacus?" He managed to smile.

"Well…it's just that…" She started to fidget. "It's probably just a misunderstanding so don't be so hard on Athrun."

Kira couldn't help but grin. "You expected me to go on my 'big-brother' mode?"

"Well…yes…"

"Don't worry about that…Cagalli's my sister, but you have to also realize, Athrun's my best friend."

"So then you believe that this is just a big mess and nothing more?" She spoke, her demeanor brightening. Kira looked away.

"Let's just say…I want to believe that. But I want to talk to Athrun first. I want to make sure that he's sincere towards my sister. And between the two of us, we know if the other is lying or not. He can't hide it from me if he no longer cares for Cagalli, or vice versa."

"I see," Lacus replied, reassured. She placed a hand on Kira's shoulder.

"I put my trust in you."

"Thank you."

* * *

"Yzak, breaking all that furniture isn't going to change the situation…why don't you sit down and try to think it over?" Dearka attempted to calm Yzak down. Yet as soon as those words left his mouth, Dearka realized that they were useless. Yzak would never follow them.

"Just shut up and leave me alone!" Yzak continued to look murderous.

Dearka stayed silent as Yzak continued on his rampage. It had always been like this. Yzak would get angry over something, and create a big scene, punching anything nearby. Only Dearka had been brave enough, or cared enough to try to calm him down, or at least drag Yzak to their room and let him let out his rage there away from prying eyes. He had understood why his best friend acted this way all the time. Yzak had no other way to let out his frustrations. To always live with the fact that he would be overshadowed by others…only thing one can do was to scream out in anger. He didn't have very many people to trust, he didn't have many people who bothered to care about him. Resentment built up because of this. If they didn't bother to pay attention to him, then he didn't need them. He spurned them all, publicly displaying his anger all the time, making them afraid of him, hesitating to get near him. Dearka knew Yzak's mind quite well by now. But just this time…

Dearka stood up. He had always let Yzak have his way. But this time, he was fed up with it. "You know what? I've just had it with you and your constant whining and aggression! Instead of going on with this useless nonsense, why don't you actually do something about it?"

"What did you say?"

"You heard what I said. Besides, you know that all of this is your fault." Dearka took a deep breath before continuing. "If you admitted your feelings to her earlier none of this would have happened!"

"I don't have feelings for her!" Yzak stared back, his eyes filled with rage.

"Then why are you so angry?" Dearka retorted back, putting on his own angry face. "Just admit it Yzak! You know, I know, practically everyone knows except maybe her. You're not doing anyone a favor by keeping it to yourself."

"Shut up!"

"You go around calling everyone else fool or idiot, but you're the biggest fool of them all!"

"I said shut up!" Yzak suddenly grabbed Dearka by the collar, ready to pummel him.

"Let me go!" Dearka had been surprised by Yzak's actions. As much as Yzak had gotten angry before, he had never laid a hand on him. But he was going to stand his ground and not let Yzak know.

"I dare you to say that again!"

"I will! You're an idiot for always keeping to yourself, and scorning everyone that even tries to help you!"

"You have no idea what's going through my head right now!"

Dearka pulled back, getting out of Yzak's grasp. "I don't know what you're going through you say? Is that what you tell yourself all the time? Maybe it's you that don't know what everyone else is going through." With that, he turned away and headed towards the door. "Since you won't listen to anything I say, you deal with this on your own. I have my own love life to deal with."

* * *

It was midday, with people scurrying about the place, putting things in order, taking care of the matters of the state, going through their daily routine. Arabella refused to get out of bed.

She really didn't have the strength to face the reality that waited for her outside the safety of her room. After that incident…after Athrun ran after Cagalli…she just collapsed there, covering her head. She didn't even bother running after Yzak. After all, why should she? It wasn't as if they were together. But the way he glared at her, somehow, it just pierced her, causing her to be a nervous wreck. Why did she feel guilty towards him? There was absolutely no basis for it. Yet she did, and she dreaded facing him again. He made her feel as if she was the most debased person in the world. Why did he have such control over her? She knew that putting herself in such a position was dangerous. Yet she seemed to have willingly let herself be set up that way. Guilt…it wouldn't go away…

Cagalli…

Now there was a legitimate person to feel guilty towards. She knew that Cagalli and Athrun's relationship wasn't at the best point, and that the incident just ruined the progress that the two of them were slowly making. Sure, she could blame Lucia for causing the situation in which Athrun ended up deciding to speak to her, but that still wasn't excuse enough. She could have just stopped after giving Athrun his advice, but she just had to start talking about herself. Of course, Athrun being the person he was, felt sorry for her, and continued the innocent gesture which ended up being misinterpreted by Cagalli. There were so many times that she could have stopped from making this situation occur, but she had been careless. Now the ball has rolled, and it will continue rolling, until either the situation becomes resolved, or everything goes crashing.

Athrun…

She felt guilty towards him too. He had come to her for help, but instead of help, she ended up ruining things for him. As if he didn't have enough problems to deal with already…

Athrun must be suffering…Cagalli must be suffering…

They were all suffering…

Arabella forced herself to get up. She would have to face them eventually, so she might as well get it over with.

* * *

"Cagalli…"

She froze when she heard that voice. Even though she knew that it was inevitable, she still didn't want to deal with it. "Yes?" She replied coldly.

"Um…can we talk?"

"You're talking to me already." She retorted matter-of-fact.

Arabella recoiled, surprised at Cagalli's bitterness. Had she created this side of Cagalli? Sure, Cagalli wasn't always the happy-go-lucky Cagalli, but she wasn't…biting. If she was angry about something, she would say something, and do something about it. She would take care of it, not caring if she seemed rash and out of place.

But now she was bitter, letting it all boil inside her, while putting on an icy exterior. That wasn't Cagalli. Arabella hadn't known her for very long, but she knew enough to know that there was something really wrong going on. And realizing that she had been the cause of all of this did not make it any easy on her.

"Cagalli, there's a huge misunderstanding going on. Athrun and I…there's nothing going on between us. I mean, we barely know each other! He just came by to ask me some questions about…well…what would eventually happen between you two."

"And what makes you think I'm just going to say okay and just go on and believe you?"

"Cagalli…"

"You know what? I'm actually not surprised." Cagalli suddenly stood up barely inches away from Arabella. Her gaze went straight towards Arabella, who seemed quite uncomfortable with the arrangement. "I'm actually not surprised that he would fall for you. After all, it all makes sense."

"Huh? I…I don't know what you're talking about…" Arabella stammered, confused.

"You just don't get it, do you?" Cagalli mocked. "Athrun's been with me all the time. He's seen how clumsy, how outspoken, how unfit I am as a ruler."

"But…that's not…"

"And then he sees you," Cagalli continued, "he sees the perfect princess, one who can take control of her country regardless of how chaotic it is. He sees just how caring and concerned you are, and how much you sacrifice…It's no wonder his feelings changed!"

"So that's how you think of me!"

Now it was Cagalli's turn to recoil. She expected Arabella to look away, to apologize, or do something along those lines, but not get angry back. "Well…what else did you expect?"

"This is why I refuse to let people see the real me!" Arabella glared. "Everyone assumes that I'm the perfect example, the all innocent, poised princess that can do anything and everything. They expect me to accomplish the impossible, and leave no room for mistakes. As if I'm not human! They put me up on a pedestal, expect me to be the perfect mechanical doll that do as they wish, not leaving me room to decide for myself just who I want to be, just what I want to do. They forget that I'm human, wanting to be free, just wanting to rest…" She paused for a minute, forcing a smile on her face. "Truly Cagalli, who do you think Athrun Zala loves? Who does he expect to love him back? It's obvious, isn't it?"

"I…"

Arabella continued to keep the smile on her face, although it turned bitter. "Something mechanical can never love…or be loved in return. It's obvious that he'll choose you over me any day." She started to walk away, her back towards Cagalli. "I can't make you trust me…only you can do that." With that, she left, leaving Cagalli to think on her own.

Cagalli sank back into the chair, trying to register everything that had happened.

"I…I'm sorry…"

* * *

"I want the truth Athrun."

Athrun sighed, realizing the inevitable had come. Big brother Kira.

"What do you think is the truth?" Athrun sighed, turning around to face him.

"What I think isn't as important as the answer you're going to give me."

"The truth? Isn't it obvious? I love Cagalli!" Athrun yelled, exasperated.

"Is it really?" Kira walked closer to him. "Is that what you really think?"

"Yes."

They both stared into each others eyes, each bearing his soul out. Athrun, desperate to be understood, and Kira, torn between his sister and his best friend, and who to believe. Time stood still for awhile, as these two friends contemplated.

"I believe you."

Athrun stayed stunned at Kira's words. "I…I…thank you."

Kira sighed. "Now if only Cagalli can believe that…"

"You trust too easily Yamato. Now get out!"

The two turned around, surprised at the third person that entered. "Yzak?"

"Yes, that's who I am. Now if you're done, I suggest you get out."

Kira looked, worried about his best friend. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." Athrun reassured him.

"You better be…at least for my sister's sake, if not for mine." With that, he left the other two to battle it out.

* * *

"I hate you!"

Yzak lunged at Athrun. Fortunately, Athrun saw it coming and dodged at the last minute. The Venetian vase next to him ended up taking the blow instead, as it crashed into the floor.

"Yzak, can't we just talk about this?" Athrun pleaded, dodging his next blow by flipping over to the other side of the chair.

"There's nothing to talk about!" Yzak yelled, as he continued his rampage. "Now stay still so that I can throttle you!"

Athrun wanted to avoid having a fist fight. But Yzak left him no choice. As soon as Yzak got close, he swung, causing Yzak to recoil back due to the blow.

"How dare you!" Yzak grabbed Athrun, and tossed him to the other side of the room. "You always took everything away from me, and I let you. I even tried to respect you. But you took her! As if you didn't take enough already. This time you went far too low and I won't let you go that easily!"

Athrun got up, and socked him again. This time, Yzak was on the floor. Athrun held him down, trying to keep him still so that he will at least listen. "Look, I know we haven't exactly been the best of friends, but I thought that we at least had an understanding." He stood up, letting Yzak go. "You can hate me forever. I can't do anything about that. But stop making yourself miserable in the process." He dusted himself off, and proceeded to leave. "And for the record, I don't love Arabella. You do."

* * *

"We need to talk." The two of them said in unison.

"You first." Cagalli insisted.

"Well…I…Cagalli, it's all a misunderstanding!" Athrun pleaded. "I didn't mean for it to look like it did. Only thing I wanted to do was to ask Arabella if I would be hurting you more by staying with you. And she told me to stop being an idiot. Nothing else happened." He got on his knees. "You believe me don't you? And please…could you forgive me?"

Cagalli stood still. What should she say? Could she really believe him? Arabella's words came back to her. "Remember…he loves you…"

"So…" Athrun continued to look at her, practically begging her.

"Yes…I believe you…but…I just don't know…"

"What does…so you mean…"

"No! That's not what I mean!" Cagalli protested.

"Then what…"

"I…I just don't know…I really want to trust you. My mind tells me that both you and Arabella are sincere…but my heart…it still worries. I just need some more time to think about it."

Athrun got up, not completely happy, but still having hope. "So, what about now then?"

"We'll try to stay on friendly terms meantime." Cagalli suggested. She turned to leave, when Athrun suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Thank you for giving me another chance."

* * *

"Where's the princess?"

Kira, Lacus, Miriallia, Dearka, Cagalli, and Athrun had all gone to the parlor, trying to patch things up, and hopefully forget about the misunderstanding. Unfortunately, they had no idea where Yzak and Arabella went off to, and just hoped that the two of them would pass by the parlor. Instead, a panic stricken Nora came by.

All of them where surprised. The usual well-kempt lady looked disheveled, and her calm eyes looked wildly across the room. Her usual jovial self had been replaced with one of concern and worry.

"I…I don't know…she came to speak to me, but then, she disappeared. Have the rest of you seen her?" Cagalli said, and the rest of the group shook their heads.

"Why? What happened?" Lacus asked, growing concerned.

Nora flinched, coming back into reality. "Elise…Elise is missing!"

* * *

"You!"

Arabella had just opened the door and entered the room, when she came face to face with Yzak.

"You get away from me now!" Yzak commanded, getting ready to push her out.

Arabella's face grew pale, but she was determined to stay her ground. "Why in the world are you acting this way? What did I ever do to you?"

Yzak laughed maniacally. "What did you do? How dare you even ask that question?"

"I'm asking because I don't know!" Arabella retorted back, equally frustrated.

"Oh, you really want to know, do you?" Yzak started closing on her. "All you do is confuse me! You like to play games, don't you? Let's play one now then!"

"What…what are you talking about?" Arabella stammered, taking a step back.

"I want to find out what else is going on in your filthy half-blooded mind."

Arabella stopped. "Oh, so is that what this is about?" Now it was her turn to get angry. "You could never change, could you? It's people like you, that can't see through the prejudice that causes all the pain in the world! I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but I guess I made a mistake. You're a cold-blooded elitist that refuses to see the truth. You care only about yourself, your pain, and refuse to care about anyone else!"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear you talk anymore! You Naturals and your lies! Your inferior minds can't understand what it is that I go through…" Yzak stood barely inches away from Arabella, who had been driven into a corner.

"If we're so inferior, then how come you bother to even pay attention to what I say?" She grasped onto the walls, trying to figure out a way out of the corner of the room that she found herself in. "Why do you care about what I do? Why do you care about who I see? Why do you care about who I love? I'm just a half-blooded filth to you!"

"That's because you're MY half-blood!"

With that, he grabbed her, and put his lips on hers.

* * *

Done!

This chapter was…um…definitely long overdue, but other than that…

Well, there was a lot of fighting…hopefully it wasn't overdoing it…

And about characters being in character…um…let's not go there…

Oh and yes…finally! I know, it might seem a bit weird, but I never expected Yzak to get all soft on his first kiss. Maybe later on, but not in the beginning. So I tried, although the way it ended up might have been overdoing it.

And Elise! Hm…one has to wonder…

Next chapter…

Everyone's panicking because of Elise. And hm…what is Ray up to? What's this? Why would Arabella say that?

Oh and btw, I said before that the number of chapters would be somewhere around mid-thirties, but after losing my outline for the third time, and rewriting it, AGAIN, I have absolutely no idea how many chapters there are going to be. Just wanted to let you know. XD

Until next time then! XD


	29. To Protect

(Walks in nervously) Um…hi everyone, it's been awhile…(dodges tomatoes). Okay! Okay! I'm really, really sorry that I didn't update sooner.

The good news is, of course, I'm here now. XD

Hopefully this chapter would make up for the delay.

Moving on…

* * *

**Ch. 29: To Protect**

Three days. She hadn't uttered a word to him since then. He supposed that he couldn't blame her. After all, it wasn't everyday that one breaks away from an unexpected, hungry kiss and finds out that her best friend disappeared with no clue as to her whereabouts. Of course, just because he could access the situation didn't mean he had to like it.

So Yzak Joule found himself pacing around the room, trying to regain his composure. However, he was irritable, and no amount of walking in circles helped, as the frayed carpet underneath him testified. But what else could he do?

He had been surprised that she didn't slap him when he pulled back. In fact, he had half a mind to smack himself, to ensure that it wasn't a dream. He actually kissed her. Kissed her! Had he turned insane? Hadn't he been furious with her just a few minutes ago? Not to mention, he knew that Naturals, or half-bloods for that matter, would only cause him problems. In no ways could he ever understand them, or fully trust them. Coordinators and Naturals were too different…But he kissed her! Did this mean he no longer cared?

He fell on his bed, groaning, trying to get all these confusing thoughts out of his head. Why did everything have to be so complicated? He was Yzak Joule, the one with the icy glare, refusing to look at any woman twice. How ironic that he had fallen for one, and a half-blood one at that! Yes, he might as well admit it now. He cared for her. A lot.

Now, he was tempted to say that he loved her, but stopped himself. After all, he didn't know what love was. True, he loved his mother, but that kind of love fit into a different category. Sure, he cared for Arabella, and couldn't help but be attracted and attached to her, but could he say he really loved her? Besides, did words carry much weight? He could recount vividly, the numerous occasions when his flirtatious roommate would be standing in a corridor saying "I love you" to a giggling naïve girl. Regardless to say, it was all too soon that the words proved to be empty. So in what way would he sort out his emotions?

His eyes grew wide at the realization. He was turning into a lovesick puppy! The idea had him almost clawing at his hair, trying to get the nightmarish thought out of his mind. What was the world coming to?

Then again, he couldn't help himself. She had been avoiding him! He wanted…no, needed to talk to her. Sometimes he wondered whether searching for Elise's whereabouts acted as a pretense for her to stay away from him. He doubted that, but couldn't help but consider the "what-if's".

He banged his fists onto the nearby table. "I will NOT turn into a sap!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. Unfortunately, his uproar wouldn't convince anyone.

* * *

It was her fault.

She should have noticed the change in her friend's demeanor. Instead, she had been too wrapped up with her own problems to realize the truth. Now she was left with the dire consequences. Elise had gone missing.

At first, she tried being calm. After all, maybe she decided to take a trip to the main part of the city to get some fresh air. It was typical of Elise to escape without notice. The heated political atmosphere never suited Elise, and the only reason she stayed was to support her best friend.

Arabella slammed her hands onto the desk in despair. What a great best friend she turned out to be. One that attracts danger. Worse of all, not only to herself, but to everyone around her.

True, everyone knew Elise was missing, but they didn't realize that she's been taken. Yes, kidnapped. Of course, people would dismiss this prediction as mere speculation, because there has yet to be evidence to prove it. Arabella wouldn't have considered the thought, if she hadn't pried into Elise's room.

Clothes, papers, books, and the whole random assortment lay scattered on the floor, making it hard to see the color of the floor. The room couldn't have looked any worse, had a hurricane passed by. Arabella pulled off a white cotton sock off a bedpost, sighing. She wasn't too surprised by the condition of the place. Elise had been notoriously known for her messiness. In once sense, it fit her personality perfectly, her lively and carefree nature. Well, at least more carefree than anyone else present within these walls. So the organized desk caught her interest.

It stood out amongst the chaos that was Elise's room, drawing suspicion. Since when did Elise bother to keep her desk clean? The thought bothered Arabella as she attempted to pry open the drawers. They were locked.

Frustrated, she had half a mind to call in a few servants and have them force open the compartments, but then decided against it. Any secrets Elise harbored would be between them. She wouldn't be cruel enough to let everyone else know.

Arabella scanned the room, hoping to find something that would help her break open the lock. She started digging through the piles around her, making sure not to confuse herself more by throwing things haphazardly. After all, it would be a waste of time to go through the same pile, while who-knows-what happens to Elise. Something shiny caught Arabella's eyes.

Looking triumphant, she fished out the set of keys. For once, Elise's clumsiness proved to be useful. The girl had a knack for misplacing items, and not realizing it until too late. Of course, Arabella had smiled back then, even though she found it annoying. No one could be perfect after all.

She sighed. Then again, that's what she had to show to the rest of the world. And since no one has the ability to be perfect, she could only distinguish herself by sacrifice…

She broke out of that train of thought. There were more important matters at hand. She couldn't just stand there and start pitying herself. In fact, that's what she did often, and it became a bad habit she tried so hard to fix but failed miserably.

Sticking the keys into the lock, she furrowed her brow, as key after key proved to be the wrong ones. However, she became elated as a certain key turned, causing the satisfying sound of a lock clicking.

* * *

"Well, maybe we're worrying over nothing," Miriallia suggested, although her voice sounded otherwise. The group, minus Arabella, loitered in the sitting room, each trying to act as if nothing happened. They were failing miserably.

"That might be true," Ray commented. The group had been surprise that he decided to join them, but since he acted in a friendly manner, no one protested. That is, with the exception of Yzak, who tossed him a weird look. "Elise hasn't been acting like herself. She might have decided to leave everything behind and return once she calms down."

"Has she done this before?" Lacus asked, worried.

"Not…exactly…" Ray hesitated. "There were times when she grew so frustrated, and sick of being treated the way she is, especially by my sister and her group." He gazed far away, as if reliving a memory. "She said that she needed freedom…that she wasn't strong and patient like Arabella…that she wasn't calculating and influential as me…"

"She told you all this?" Athrun asked with sudden interest.

"Well…no!" Ray jumped, as if coming out of a trance. "It's all speculation really. Then again, Elise is pretty easy to read."

"I guess that's true," Athrun consented, yet continued to look suspicious.

"It's no wonder Arabella's worried though," Ray changed the subject, "even though I hope the best, something tells me that this time it's different."

"What makes you say that?" Cagalli challenged, as she slowly became herself again. The rest of the group seemed relieved by this change. They had been worried that Cagalli would never get herself out depression, and seeing progress made them glad.

"Usually, when Elise would pull off something like this, she would tell someone about it, mostly Arabella. But this time, that isn't the case," Ray's frown deepened. He shook his head, trying to rid his head of negative speculations.

"So should we be worried then?" Cagalli asked.

Ray sighed, "If you want my honest opinion, yes." Silence followed after that.

Lacus spoke up, "Maybe none of this would have happened if we…"

"Don't blame yourself for it," Ray interrupted, smiling. "There was nothing to be done."

"But maybe that's it," Cagalli interjected, "maybe the mood had been so tense lately, and everyone became too wrapped up with their own problems that we didn't pay her the attention she deserved." She hesitated before the next part. "And maybe because the misunderstanding between Arabella and…"

Ray shook his head, dismissing the notion. "No, it can't be because of that. As naïve as Elise might be, she would know better than to believe something like that would happen. She has more faith in her friend. As do I, of course," he added.

Yzak flinched. He had purposely stayed silent the whole time, not particularly wanting to converse with Ray. After all, what useful information would he get from his rival for Arabella's affections? But Ray's last comment hit him. Ray trusted Arabella. That said a lot. They were both Coordinators, supplied with all sorts of prejudices due to their backgrounds, and yet one of them seemed to have bypassed them, while the other still struggled.

Of course, he couldn't dismiss the thought that Ray wasn't being truthful. So he continued to be wary of his actions. But regardless of that, Ray's overall statement had been correct.

"So I don't love her," Yzak thought regretfully. After all, if he couldn't trust her, then he couldn't be loving her. Yet for some odd reason, the knowledge brought him more bitterness than he had anticipated.

"Well, sitting here won't help the situation," Cagalli remarked, standing up. "Besides, worrying doesn't do us much good." With that, she exited the room. Others soon followed, knowing that she was correct.

"Hey Kira!"

Kira turned around, surprised. Why would Ray of all people address him?

"Could you stay here a minute and talk with me?" Ray asked.

"Um…sure," Kira answered, getting more confused. If anything, he grew suspicious of Ray's motives. What could have possibly caused the boy to want to talk to him? All sorts of ridiculous ideas flew past Kira's head.

"I caught you looking through all sorts of travel brochures and magazines. Then I realized who's birthday was coming near, and put two and two together," Ray smirked.

Instantly, Kira blushed, and then became confused again. Why was Ray telling him all this? It's not as if any of it should matter to the guy.

"I take it that you still haven't found a suitable place?" It wasn't a question. Rather, a statement.

"Yes…" Kira admitted, "but I'm sure I'll find a place soon." He didn't understand why he was even having this conversation with Ray. It felt so awkward.

"Actually, you don't have to search anymore," Ray grinned. "You see, there's this perfect place that not many people know about. I'll tell you more about it, if you're interested."

Kira continued to have a confused look on his face. Why did Ray suddenly have his situation in his interest? Then again, he had been failing miserably in planning for Lacus's birthday. He would have nothing to lose.

"All right, I'm listening."

* * *

"Athrun, can we talk?"

He turned around, surprised at Cagalli's request. Usually he would be the one trying to have a conversation with her. Intrigued, and not to discourage her, he gave her his complete attention.

"Um…not out here," Cagalli looked around, as if expecting some eavesdropper to be present right around the corner.

"Want to go inside one of our rooms then?" Athrun suggested. His curiosity grew even more. Since when did Cagalli emphasize privacy? Sure, she did value having some time and space to herself, but most of the time she was open.

Cagalli proceeded towards her room, followed by Athrun. Once she closed the door, she started to explain, "Well, it's not that big of a deal, but I just didn't want the others to hear. For once, I didn't want others to interfere, and try to figure this out ourselves."

"Okay…" Athrun nodded, although not quite following her.

"Well, you see…" She suddenly blushed, and then the next second, threw an uproar. "Ugh! This is ridiculous…I can't even say this correctly."

"No, no, it's okay, go on." Athrun calmed her down, becoming a bit alarmed himself.

"This is going to sound weird coming from me, but…we need to discuss our relationship. I don't think we finished the last discussion well enough."

Athrun blinked. Did Cagalli just say what he thought she said? True, Cagalli was outspoken, brutally frank in some aspects, but there was one subject that she avoided as if it were death itself. That happened to be relationships. So what brought on this change?

"I know, you're surprised," Cagalli continued, "but I've been thinking ever since that…incident, and I realized just how unstable the two of us really are."

He noticed her fidget, and realized he was doing so as well. Then again, who could blame them? As nervous as he was, Athrun still understood what she meant by that. People assumed what their relationship was perfect. True, it did seem like that on the outside, and he couldn't say that he hadn't been happy during those times. Yet they had their problems. In fact, they had many. And to make matters worse, instead of trying to solve them, the two of them tried to sugar-coat their mishaps, and chose to ignore them. It was about time that they stopped lying to themselves. He was glad that Cagalli brought it up. Although he had many talents, confronting his girlfriend didn't happen to be one of them.

"I understand," Athrun answered.

"That's good, because I've been disgusted by the lack of trust and support we had for each other recently. We should be an example! Otherwise, the others will never get a move on!" She added that last comment with a smirk.

Athrun couldn't help but laugh. Cagalli was slowly coming back to her original self. Of course, it would still take some work, just as she implied, and they would fail a number of times. It wouldn't be realistic to assume that everything would be lovey-dovey for them from now on. But they both cared enough to try. And with them together, especially with Cagalli's stubbornness, that meant more than enough.

* * *

Athrun's face expressed contentment as he emerged from Cagalli's room. He was glad that at least some things seemed to be heading in the right direction. That's what he, and everyone, needed at this time. Too many things went awry, and that dampened everyone's spirit. Knowing that at least one thing was going well made it seem as if the burden had become slightly lighter. That reminded him…

He groaned, knowing what he had to do. After all, it was the right thing to do, and he didn't mind going about it, too much. But he didn't know how Yzak would take it. He wanted to come to and understanding with the ill-tempered boy once again. Athrun found it surprising that Yzak could be rather agreeable in those very rare occasions. But he would have no such luck this time. He wondered if Yzak would even bother to let him say a word before taking a swing at him. Then again, he had to at least try.

Athrun took a couple steps forward, until he stood in front of Yzak's door. He knew he would find the disgruntled teammate there. Yzak had rarely left his room ever since that day, at least to Athrun's knowledge. After taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

"What do you want?" Yzak grunted as he opened the door.

"We need to talk," Athrun answered. He half expected Yzak to slam the door on his face. But to his surprise Yzak merely grunted once again.

"Let's get this over then."

Athrun relaxed, seeing that Yzak was willing to cooperate. Of course, he couldn't be sure of how patient Yzak would be, so he stayed ready on his feet, just in case he needed to make a run for it.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Athrun asked, wanting to be direct and get this over with. Yzak murmured something under his breath. "What was that?"

"I said I don't hate you! There, happy?" Yzak yelled, furious at having to admit it once again.

Athrun blinked, registering Yzak's words. He continued to stare at Yzak, trying to see if he really was telling the truth. Once he realized that, he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I still resent you," Yzak clarified, seeing Athrun's confused look, "but I suppose I don't hate you."

Athrun couldn't help but smirk at this. That was more like Yzak. He knew whether they wanted to admit it or not, there was a begrudging respect between them, and that made them act at least civil towards each other. Being buddy-buddy would be pushing it.

"You try living your life always being beaten by someone else," Yzak continued, "and no, I'm not jealous, so wipe that smirk off your face. It's just that it becomes frustrating after a while."

Athrun nodded his head. He didn't bother saying that he understood. If he did, he would receive a punch from Yzak. There were times when keeping quit was the best solution, as he learned from Cagalli. However, he understood what had caused Yzak to snap, even though they did sort out their differences before. Their truce came about due to mutual respect. Of course, the previous incident caused Yzak to lose that respect, making him lash out.

Now that he thought about it, he wondered how Arabella fared when meeting Yzak in all his fury. Not that he would ask Yzak directly. That would be suicide. But it was natural to speculate. After all, they had been found in the same room. In fact, he had to wonder how Arabella managed to stay intact. It didn't help that Yzak seemed calmer since then.

"If you're going to daydream all day, would you mind doing it somewhere else?" Yzak sneered, bringing Athrun back into reality.

"Oh…um, yea…I just wanted to make sure that…"

"Yes, yes, Zala, I do understand that it was all a misunderstanding. Do you want to shake hands again just to prove it?" Yzak said dismissively, annoyed.

"Sure…" Athrun replied, meeting Yzak's outstretched hand. He was surprised that this went through so smoothly. It was almost as if Yzak had planned this in the first place. Of course, the idea would prove to be preposterous, but one could never put it past Yzak.

"Now that's over, get out of my room, Zala!" Yzak growled, although with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Okay, okay, I get the point," Athrun raised his hands defensively, as he walked out of the place. He couldn't help but smile though. Things did seem to go well for him today.

* * *

Arabella swept past the corridors, with fear plastered onto her face. Elise…what was it that she got herself into? Her hands still trembled, remembering the moment she found what Elise was up to. She had the copied documents in her hand, realization hitting her. Her first reaction had been anger. How could Elise do this to her? True, Elise didn't mean any harm. She never did. That's why Arabella didn't mind Elise prying into her private life, because after all, what were friends for? But this wasn't just her life that was in stake. Elise should have realized this, but that didn't stop her from diving into things that could make her punishable by law.

However, Arabella's anger soon became replaced by dread and worry for her best friend. True, Elise could have gotten herself into all sorts of situations. Arabella couldn't pinpoint just what Elise had found out. But regardless of the specifics, anything that regarded the components stated in that document would cause problems. Elise would not survive this ordeal unscathed. If she even survived, that is.

"This is all your fault!" she reproached herself, frustrated. She should have been more aware of Elise's actions. But no, she had been too wrapped up in having what she wanted, focusing too much on personal matters. Because of her lapse of judgment, both were in danger, her country, and those she cared about.

She wanted to just crumble right there, not wanting to deal with any of this anymore. Her position had always been a burden to her. Yet she accepted the weight, knowing full well that doing otherwise would cause disaster. Times like this, however, tempted her to throw everything away.

She opened the door, to find the group inside. Instantly, everyone turned towards her, their expressions showing that they were happy to finally see her.

"Well it's about time you joined us!" Cagalli remarked, without a trace of bitterly in her voice.

Arabella almost crumbled once again. Cagalli…she was so forgiving. She envied her for being so care-free. In fact, all of them seemed so compassionate, so willing to help. How could she do this to them?

She spotted Yzak at the corner, his eyes searching. He looked desperate to talk to her. She would have laughed at Yzak's lowering of his defenses, if the situation wasn't so dire. He would be outraged, of course. They all would be. But what could she do? She tried to burn the image of the kiss out of her mind. No, she couldn't fall into that. As much as she wanted her happiness, there were more important matters at hand. For one, she couldn't knowingly put them in danger. It was for their own good.

"Arabella?" Lacus looked questioningly at her.

Arabella glared straight at them, using every ounce of willpower to keep her eyes from betraying her emotions. "I want…no, I need all of you to leave. Now."

* * *

Done!

(Sigh…) I know, it was a bit of a short chapter, and not much going on either. Sorry to disappoint…

Not to mention, my writing style seems to have changed, probably due to the fact that I haven't worked on this story for a long time. I need to get my muse back again! XD

Next time:

Obviously, the group is in disbelief. How would they try to convince Arabella?

Ray and Athrun have an interesting discussion.

And what is this about Miriallia and Dearka?

Of course, confrontation between Arabella and Yzak are in order.

How does that sound for the next chapter?

Oh, and of course, thanks for reading, as always! XD


	30. Forsaken

I think this was my ultimate, record-breaking hiatus... 

I'm so sorry! (Don't kill me...XD)

I wonder if anyone even follows this fic anymore, seeing that I've been trying everyone's patience by never updating.

Before I go on, I just wanted to say that I'm changing the storyline from what I originally planned. No, there was nothing wrong with the storyline. In fact, it was such an interesting concept that I wanted to save it for another writing project (don't want to overplay it). So far, it's only minor changes, and the actually ending is still pretty much the same, but there are some things...blah...I know I'm not making any sense so I'll stop with that. But if you're curious and want to know what the original plans were, I might tell you once chapter 37/38/39 is ready (I'm saying "might" because it depends on how the new storyline turns out, but it never hurts to ask XD).

Anyways, I've blabbered on too long, so once again, I apologize. Enjoy!

* * *

**Ch. 30: Forsaken**

The room was filled with a deafening silence as the occupants gaped in shock. Did she really say what they thought she said? No...she couldn't have. She...

"Arabella, I...I don't understand," Lacus managed to break the silence, almost causing everyone to jump up at the sudden disturbance. Not to mention, did she just say that she didn't understand? This was Lacus of all people.

"What do you mean you want us to leave? This is ridiculous!" Cagalli spat out, ready to argue since the silence was broken.

"Um...is there a reason why?" Miriallia asked tentatively.

"There is," Arabella answered bluntly, "but it's best that you don't know." She used every last ounce of self-control to keep a neutral face. There was no choice. They had to leave, otherwise they would dig deeper into the problem that they would have no way out of. This was her act of kindness to them. She would play the villain, and in return, they would be free. Perhaps they would give her a chance to apologize once (and if) this ordeal passes. She knew she couldn't count on that. Yet, what other choice did she have? A tempting idea kept on presenting itself. They could stay and help...

"No!" she screamed inside her head. That will not happen. She would not be selfish. There would be no more tragedies due to her. Because she was foolish, because she didn't realize this sooner, Elise had paid the cost. She wasn't sure yet just exactly what that price entailed, for she still had to put together the pieces, but one part was enough to show that none of them would remain unscathed. They had to leave while they still could.

"If you want us to leave, you should at least tell us why," Kira remarked. Even the usual quiet and non-confrontational Kira felt the need to say something.

Arabella understood why they protested. It wasn't right. But then, one had to choose the lesser of two great evils. She had made her choice. Taking a deep breath, she answered, "Because I don't want you here anymore." With that, she walked away, quickening her pace as she slammed the door on the group.

"What...what just happened?" The group couldn't help but be dumbfounded.

"The idiot!" Yzak remarked, coming out of shock. Not bothering to wait for the others, he ran after the woman who brought so much confusion into his life.

* * *

Athrun needed to breathe.

As much as he adored Cagalli and enjoyed being with his friends, sometimes their bantering gave him a throbbing headache. Especially with the current situation, he needed time and space to be alone to gather his thoughts. So while the rest of the group engaged in a heated debate in trying to form a plan, he slipped away quietly, heading towards the peaceful gardens.  
He wanted to stay. Certainly, he felt obligated to help. But that wasn't the only reason. His stay here had changed him, made him face certain aspects of himself and his relationship with Cagalli. Not to mention, there were some funny moments, even amongst all the tension, that gave him a sense of happiness. The place had grown on him. He knew that someday he had to leave this place, but being kicked out so suddenly didn't suit him well.

His thoughts were interrupted as soon as he spotted Ray at the other end. The guy was lying down on a bench, eyes staring into the cloudless sky, deep in thought. Athrun felt an odd sense of guilt. In one sense, the group's arrival had changed the lives of the usual residents. If anything, their presence demanded Arabella's attention, causing her to spend less time with her fiancee. True, they didn't love each other, and Athrun wanted Yzak to get the woman's affection (he certainly needed it), but that didn't entitle mistreating the guy. The group acted like a clique, not letting the blue-silver haired boy into their circle, keeping him out of their interests and concerns. It was blatant exclusion.

"Oh hi there! Sorry I didn't see you before." Ray sat up straight, sensing Athrun's presence.

"That's all right. If anything I'm the one who's intruding," Athrun replied, attempting to be more cordial to Ray.

"Don't worry about it. I like being interrupted," Ray responded, "people don't seem to do that to me often enough."

"Oh...I see..." Athrun merely nodded his head, not knowing what to really say. Thinking about what Ray just said made him realize something else. He rarely saw Ray with anyone else. Not that he saw Ray often, but even those few times, he always spotted the boy alone. True, Ray was with Lucia since they were siblings, with Arabella for the obvious reasons, and actually a few times with Elise, but most of the time the guy stayed by himself.

"So what you doing here?" Ray asked, trying to start a conversation once again.

"Just wanted some peace and quiet." Athrun emphasized the point by rubbing his head.

"I understand," Ray sighed, "Arabella gave quiet a shock in there, didn't she?"

"Yes she did. Do you have any idea why she acted like that?" Athrun asked, hoping that Ray would enlighten him. The boy always seemed to know more than the rest of them, which wasn't surprising, since he was part of the ruling elite.

"I suppose it's because she senses danger, and in her kindness wants the group to leave." Ray shrugged, "There might be more to it, but I'm not sure either. I'm trying to figure it out just like everyone else."

Athrun carefully scrutinized the boy's reactions, already knowing beforehand that Ray wouldn't directly tell him anything. Who in this situation would? Seeing how Ray acted, Athrun concluded that Ray was telling the truth. It made sense after all. Arabella didn't want people to be hurt for her sake, and the disappearance of Elise reinforced that belief. However, Ray was hiding something. Athrun was determined to find out what that was. It might not even be important, but every bit of information helped. In order to do that, he would have to keep Ray close. Killing two birds with one stone, he supposed.

"Would you like to join us in finding out then?" Athrun offered. He hadn't been ready for Ray's reaction though. Ray's eyes flew open, as if seeing Athrun for the first time. Violet met emerald, and Athrun couldn't help but make a step back. Then as if it never happened, Ray turned cheerful once again.

"Thank you for the offer, but I doubt I would be much help," Ray scratched his head. "Besides, I trust Arabella to figure out what's truly best for the situation." Athrun attempted to protest, but Ray stood up, "I think I should go check up on Lucia now. Leaving her by herself for too long is never a good idea."

Athrun nodded, defeated for now. He let Ray pass him, and was about to continue walking, when he sensed that Ray stopped just a few feet behind him. Athrun was about to turn around, when Ray's voice stopped him.

"I'll warn you only once. Get out of here while you can. If not for yourself, at least for the one you love."

Ray had said it barely above a whisper, but it sounded like thunder to Athrun, who couldn't help but shudder at the ominous prediction, as the breeze swished past him and disappeared, just like the bearer of the warning.

* * *

"Why were you so silent throughout the whole time? It's unlike you."

Dearka shrugged, looking back at the object of his affection. He contemplated whether he should tell her or not. She might give him a weird look, but then again, telling her might help solve the situation, not to mention, hint at his feelings for her without being too obvious and causing her to stay away from him again.

"I've been trying to figure out what Elise meant."

Miriallia looked at him quizzically, "What are you talking about? What do you mean, she 'meant' about something?" She knew what she just said didn't make sense, but she had no idea how else to say it. Knowing Dearka though, he would figure it out.

"Well, she was singing a song, something about lilacs, shadows, waiting for something, and then she asked me an odd question."

"And that question was?" Miriallia asked, getting more intrigued.

"Which one hurt more, either unrequited love, or having to push each other away due to circumstances."

"Hm...why would she ask something like that?" Miriallia couldn't help but be confused. Of all people, why Elise? She seemed too cheerful to have such thoughts in her head. Of course, all of that could have been a facade, as noted by her odd behaviors for awhile before her disappearance, but still...something wasn't right. They were missing so many pieces, parts that were vital to understanding the situation.

"Any ideas?" Dearka asked, although doubting that Miriallia would be able to come up with something in such a short amount of time.

"No idea," Miriallia confessed. "By the way, just out of curiosity, what answer did you give her?"

Dearka stood up, realizing that this was his opportunity. "I said I didn't know."

"I suppose that didn't bring out an answer from her," Miriallia frowned, but then brightened. "Well, at least we have something to think about that might help us. Let's go tell the others." With that, she proceeded to drag Dearka towards the door. However, she stopped, hearing him speak.

"I told her I didn't know because..." He took a deep breath before continuing, hoping that he made the right choice in telling her this. "Because as of now, I only felt one of them, and that one thing hurt me more than anything else."

* * *

"You can't stay in there forever," Yzak shouted, standing in front of Arabella's door. He had planted himself on the spot for about an hour or two, refusing to leave until she would talk to him. The servants didn't dare to bother him, afraid that his temper would explode if they tried to convince him to come back later.

He didn't think she could act this childish. Leave? What nonsense. And what a lie she gave as an excuse. Did she honestly think any of them would fall for that? And she was supposed to be the perfect, smart one. It was ironic how she acted as the voice of reason, and yet here she was, being irrational. This was ridiculous. He had half a mind to break down the door...

"I'm not changing my mind," she remarked, opening the door, meeting him face to face. "I'll be courteous as a hostess and let the group stay until the end of the week, but I expect everyone to be ready by then with no complaints."

"And what could you possibly gain by that?" He stared directly at her while asking. She had been crying. Of course, being the skilled politician that she was, she did an amazing job hiding it. But he knew. There was no way to explain it, but he just knew. That just made him angrier. Did she not realize that no one benefited from this? She was hurt, they were hurt. It only caused pain, and if anything, delayed the inevitable problem.

"At least I'll know I did what I can to keep the group safe," Arabella replied, dropping the charade.

"Safe to be hurt even more on another day?" Yzak retorted, "If this is as big of a problem as you seem to imply, then there would be no way to escape. It would eventually catch up to all of us. What then?"

"That's why I'm going to do everything in my power to stop it before it comes to that," Arabella replied, biting her lip.

"What if you can't? By then, the problem would be worse than it is now." Yzak sighed, knowing that what he'll say next will hurt her, but he didn't have much of a choice. "You're being selfish. By pushing us away, you're making it possible for something even more disastrous to happen. You may not think so, but that's the truth."

"But...but..."

"Just think it over," he added. He didn't know what possessed him to do what he did next until it was too late. Slowly, he glided his hand in her hair, then resting it on her cheek. A brief second passed by as the two remained frozen in that moment. Suddenly, Arabella flinched, and pulled away.

"Yzak, just go away! Please leave..."

She pushed him out, slamming the door behind him. He didn't protest. The only thing he could do was to stare blankly, turmoil running through his head.

* * *

Done...

Yes I know, I'm sorry. I didn't update for a long time, and yet I write a short chapter. Sorry...

I don't know, I think my writing got worse after the hiatus. It certainly doesn't flow anymore.

Next time:

It's Lacus's birthday! How does this play into the scheme of things?

What is going on with Ray?

Why is Athrun uneasy?

How long can Dearka and Miriallia play this game with each other?

Arabella is trying to put things together...

So how does that sound?

Well then, until next time!

Thanks for reading!


	31. But A Dream

No, you're not dreaming. This is an update. XD 

I guess this is a bit of a appeasement for the previous hiatus (although I'm not sure if the negative effects from it had worn off yet), and also to "tribute" asking people to be patient, because I have absolutely no idea how long the next absent period will be. (Especially since I decided to take a few extra classes during summer, and also take prep-classes for a certain test...I won't say which...it's up to you to guess...lol)

I wanted to ask something, but I think I'll ask it after the chapter is done. Enjoy! XD

* * *

**Ch. 31: But A Dream**

"So Arabella really said that?" Cagalli asked, just to make sure.

Athrun nodded, "That's what Yzak said."

The two of them sighed as they continued walking past the numerous corridors. They had less than one week. Hopefully they could change Arabella's mind by then. But as of now, their chances were very slim. She seemed determined to stand by her position, more so than any of them had ever anticipated. Also, no one in the group could come up with a plan.

"You know, I wonder if the others even want to stay!" Cagalli yelled, frustrated, "They're not even trying. In fact, I haven't seen Dearka and Miriallia since yesterday."

"I'm sure they want to stay," Athrun attempted to reason with her, "maybe the two of them are coming up with their own plans."

"They better be," Cagalli murmured, although calming down a bit.

"And Kira and Lacus deserve a day off," Athrun pointed out.

Cagalli sighed. Athrun was right about that. It was Lacus's birthday after all. In fact, they had a hard time convincing the two of them to go and enjoy themselves. Cagalli had to practically toss Kira out the door in order to make it clear that the rest of the group would be fine without them. And in one sense, maybe it was a good thing they went. If they had to leave, they might as well make most of their time. But Cagalli wasn't a quitter. She would try to convince Arabella no matter what, and with Athrun supporting her, she would always be confident.

"So, think up anything yet?" Cagalli asked, smiling.

"Well...actually...not really..." Athrun grinned sheepishly. He took a couple steps back, hoping to avoid Cagalli's wrath. Fortunately for him, Cagalli merely sweat-dropped.

"So much for support," Cagalli thought, annoyed. Then again, she couldn't get mad at him too much, since she had a hard time coming up with a plan as well.

"Hey, there's Miriallia," Athrun pointed, breaking Cagalli away from her thoughts. Sure enough, Miriallia stood at the other end of the passageway, waving at them.

"Where have you been all this time?" Cagalli asked, curious.

"I've been...away..." Miriallia replied, as if to dodge the question.

Cagalli raised an eyebrow, as Athrun tilted his head and started analyzing the situation. Neither of them was buying it. Miriallia was trying to hide something, and at this point, the two of them didn't want another secret to be added to their list.

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Cagalli asked bluntly.

"No...I don't know what you're talking about..." Miriallia stammered.

"Why are you stepping away then?" Athrun added.

"Well...that's..."

"She's stepping away from me, not you two."

Athrun and Cagalli turned around, to find a downcast Dearka. As if on cue, Miriallia moved behind Cagalli, trying to hide from Dearka's gaze.

"All right, what happened between you two?" Cagalli demanded, annoyed at the way the two were acting.

Dearka shook his head. "It's just...I was being stupid. I'm sorry..." Although he was answering Cagalli's question, he responded towards Miriallia, hoping that she would at least stop avoiding him. He had been disappointed that Miriallia still wasn't ready to accept him, but he was willing to sacrifice that if he could at least stay near her in exchange. Dearka knew he was killing himself in the process, but he had no other choice.

"How long are you two going to play this game?" Athrun interrupted, startling everyone.

"What...what do you mean?" Miriallia stammered. Yet realization hit her at the same time. Yes, the two of them were playing a game, denying the obvious, as she continued dodging Dearka's advances. Cat and mouse. There would eventually be a time when they couldn't do this anymore. But neither wanted to admit that. And recently, she didn't know what she felt. She wasn't ready to be with him, but she didn't want him to disappear from her life either. Miriallia knew she was being selfish with that thought, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't choose.

"You two still haven't answered my question," Athrun stated, breaking Dearka and Miriallia from their individual thoughts. Seeing that neither of them was willing to answer, he sighed, resolved. "I think it's time we end this..."

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

A loud scream came from one of the corridors, causing Athrun to stop in mid-sentence. _Lucia's corridor_. Everyone in the group stared at each other, wondering what was going on.

"What are we doing standing here? Let's go and see what's going on!" Cagalli remarked, dragging Athrun. Dearka and Miriallia followed suit, the tension between them forgotten for now.

They half expected to find an unconscious body sprawled on the floor. To their amusement however, an irritated Yzak and an embarrassed Ray greeted them instead.

"Um...hi everyone," Ray grinned nervously, "I'm sorry I caused such a commotion..."

"What did you do Yzak?" Cagalli glared, seeing the smug look on Yzak's face.

"Why do you assume that I had anything to do with this?" Yzak retorted, rolling his eyes. "I just happened to pass by when I heard the scream. Then the idiot over there proceeded to knock me over." He gestured towards Ray, as if to emphasize his point.

"You expect me to believe that?" Cagalli raised an eyebrow.

"No...no, Yzak's right," Ray stepped in, surprising everyone. Did Ray just defend Yzak?

"Well...if you say so Ray," Cagalli gave in, caught off-guard. The group looked relieved, having been saved from a possible Cagalli-Yzak argument. Having two people with short tempers at each others' throats was not a good idea.

Yzak on the other hand, continued to glare at Ray. He didn't need the idiot's help! Besides, he knew his rival had an ulterior motive, and seeing how everyone else seemed concerned towards Ray proved that. Ray could fool others, but not him. One of these days, he would find out just what the schemer was up to.

That reminded him. He needed to find a way to change Arabella's mind. It frustrated him just how stubborn she was. They both knew this was ridiculous, and yet she continued to hold onto her decision. Did she not realize that they were all too involved in the situation to just back down and pretend as if nothing had happened?

"So what exactly happened?" Athrun asked, bringing everyone's attention back to the conversation.

"Well, the good news is that Lucia gave up scratching. The bad news is, she decided to start biting instead." Ray answered, while rolling up his right arm sleeve. Ugly teeth marks were all over his arm, a few of them bad enough to bleed.

"Ouch! That must have hurt!"

"I can't believe she did this to you!"

"And you're just standing here?"

"It's not as bad as it looks," Ray tried to assure them, but they weren't convinced. Cagalli, Miriallia, and Dearka continued to worry, whereas Yzak and Athrun looked on suspiciously.

"Not bad? Don't be ridiculous." Cagalli remarked, attempting to drag Ray somewhere. "Where's the doctor in this place? Do we have to make a house call?"

"Actually, doctors visit this place frequently," Ray answered, "but..."

"Oh good, it's all settled then," Miriallia added agreeing with Cagalli.

"But I don't like seeing them." Ray stated firmly, suddenly getting serious.

Cagalli blinked once, caught off-guard by his sudden seriousness. However, she composed herself again. "Well too bad. I'm going to make sure you get those wounds taken care of. Do you want to be added to Arabella's worries? It's bad enough Elise disappeared."

Ray was about to protest, but hearing the last two parts, he stayed silent, and resigned to have Cagalli continue dragging him. The others followed, not having much else to do. However, Athrun and Yzak trailed behind.

"Zala, is it just me or is there something odd about this?" Yzak asked in a low voice, making sure the others couldn't hear.

Athrun nodded. Yes, something wasn't right. It wasn't necessarily the fact that Ray didn't want to see the doctors. He knew there were people that didn't quite trust letting others, especially strangers, take care of them. There were also some, especially during wartime, that didn't want others to see their wounds, whether it be external or internal. In fact, such a person was walking right next to him. Although at the time Yzak couldn't hide his face scar because it was too deep, not to mention, placed in the most obvious of places, he still managed to keep others from seeing other wounds; wounds he continued to carry, the ones that would take longer to heal. Athrun himself had a few of those to deal with as well.

So what was odd about Ray then? It was subtle, yet obvious when perceived in the right way. Ray didn't want anyone to treat him. Yet he voluntarily showed the nasty marks to the group. Why did he do that?

"I'm assuming that you agree," Yzak remarked, causing Athrun to pay attention to him again. "I don't know what it is, but I can't trust the idiot."

Athrun had to stop himself from smirking. Oh, he knew why Yzak was hostile towards Ray. He was hoping Yzak would finally go about admitting the real reason, but apparently the former Duel pilot was too stubborn for his own good. Still, Yzak had a point. Athrun didn't know what to think about Ray. It wasn't as if he were bipolar...no, it wasn't as obvious as that. But there was something about him that kept Athrun wondering whether he was friend or foe.

"Could you stop drifting off and have a conversation with me?" Yzak growled, obviously annoyed.

"Oh, sorry about that," Athrun apologized although knowing that Yzak could care less about it. Then a thought flew fast his mind, causing him to stare incredulously at Yzak. "Wait a minute, did you just say that you wanted to have a conversation with me?"

* * *

"Kira, this is beautiful!"

Lacus continued to stare at the scene in awe, as Kira smiled. He knew she would like it. At first he had been hesitant to listen to Ray's suggestion, but after doing some research, he became convinced. Hopefully he wouldn't do anything stupid and ruin the day.

Indeed, the place was beautiful. A tranquil lake lay in front of them, with waters pure enough for them to see the grains of sand and the aquatic plants at the bottom. Trees and flowers of all sorts surrounded the area, secluding the place from troublesome outside interference. Not to mention, no one else was present at the moment.

"So what are we going to do here?" Lacus asked, curious.

Smiling once again, Kira led her to a small boat, one just big enough to seat two people. "We're going to row around the lake in this."

Lacus looked at him, surprised, "You know how to row?"

Kira looked away, embarrassed. "Well...yes..." In truth, he never tried it on water. But he wasn't going to tell her that. Besides, if he could pilot a gundam, would rowing be that hard?

"I'll believe you," Lacus replied, although the look on her face showed that she wasn't completely convinced. However, she proceeded to sit on the boat, and waited for Kira.

Kira took a deep breathe, praying that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. In fact, he was near panic mode, and had to use every bit of willpower to keep from showing it. Lacus deserved a great birthday, and he wasn't going to ruin it.

They cast off, and Kira started to row slowly. He knew he probably wasn't doing it right, but at least they were moving. Besides, as long as Lacus didn't know...wait, did she? Kira searched her face for any signs, and almost sighed in relief when he confirmed that she didn't know.

"Kira look!" Lacus suddenly pointed, almost making him drop an oar in surprise. A turtle was swimming past them. He sweat-dropped. A turtle swam past them. How slow were they moving?

"And there's fish over there..." Lacus pointed to the other side, and sure enough, an assortment of brilliant fishes swam back and forth playfully.

The two continued this, with Kira struggling to row, and Lacus pointing at the wildlife. Eventually Kira got used to it, and the rowing became more natural. He couldn't help but laugh at Lacus's antics. Who knew aquatic life could get her so excited? It was odd, and yet Kira didn't mind much, as long as she was enjoying herself. In fact, he was relaxing as well, the peaceful setting providing a dream-like quality.

A melody started playing in his head. He didn't know much about it, except that it used to be a famous song from a foreign country. _Row, row, row your boat..._

He never understood why the song was so catchy, but as he continued to row across the lake, it started to make sense to him. Merrily, it said. But the last part stuck to him the most._ Life is but a dream._

Indeed, in this worry-free, serene lake, life really was a dream. There were no battles, no one pressuring them to act a certain way, but just the two of them, providing a time for them to just be...well...ordinary people. Yes, this was a dream. The life that they lived would never give them this leisure. Well then, let them dream a bit longer.

Soon, the two of them were at the middle of the lake. They stayed there for awhile, looking up at the sky, enjoying the moment.

"No matter how advanced we get, we can never replicate this," Lacus remarked.

Kira agreed. A lot had happened during the war, exposing him to the real world. However, nothing had inspired more awe in him than his first encounter with earth's vast, deep oceans. There was a reason why the earth was called the "blue planet".

"I...I know this sounds impossible," Kira stammered, surprised that he had the courage to suggest this, "but after everything's in order, the peace treaties settled, maybe we could disappear...live somewhere near the ocean..." He stopped, not knowing how Lacus would respond.

Lacus stayed silent, and continued to look at the sky. After a few tense seconds, she smiled back. "I would like that."

* * *

Arabella paced back and forth across her room. That's all she seemed to be doing these days. A part of her screamed at her for becoming so weak and irrational, yet she fell deeper and deeper into the trap. But everything around her seemed to distort her already confused mind. There were so many questions that she couldn't answer. Why was Elise kidnapped? Yes, others might think she just disappeared, but Arabella knew that wasn't the case. The clues she had gave her that much.

It had to do with the underground secrets. But exactly what? There were so many things down there that it was hard to pinpoint just what the enemy was aiming for. It also depended on who the enemy was. Blue Cosmos? A radical faction of ZAFT? Purists? Her gut feeling told her it might have something to do with the latter, but with her supposed future father-in-law's death, it was no longer so clear cut. She regretted not monitoring the situation more closely. For all she knew, this was a conspiracy, and all the major groups were in it together. As ridiculous as that sounded, she had to consider every possibility.

Sighing, she returned to her desk, trying to figure out the situation. She ignored the fact that the others were probably worried about her, and were most likely trying to scheme a way out of having to leave. It wouldn't happen. Certainly, she already missed them dearly, but it didn't cloud her judgment enough to let them stay. From here on, it would get dangerous. Not only did she fear for their personal safety, but also the implications that would be brought forth if something were to happen. Politics was never something to agitate.

But Yzak's words haunted her. What if she couldn't take care of this problem herself? No doubt the crisis would escalate.

She feared for them all.

* * *

"I had such a great time today, Kira." Lacus thanked him as they excited the quaint yet surprisingly tasteful French restaurant in complete bliss. Kira blushed at the compliment, not knowing what to say. One thing he knew for certain though...he was going to thank Ray profusely. At the back of the mind though, he wondered how Ray knew all these places. Wonderful lake...amazing French restaurant...eccentric antique shop...Not that he knew Ray well, but none of those seemed like places that Ray would frequent often. Maybe he didn't want to know. Kira would leave it at that.

"And thank you for the turtle clock," Lacus added, lifting her bag for emphasis.

Kira tried not to laugh. He still couldn't believe Lacus wanted the thing. There were so many items at the antique shop and yet she chose that. "It reminds me so much of the turtle at the lake," she had commented. Although _he_ didn't want to be reminded that the turtle out-paddled him, since Lacus wanted the clock so much, he purchased it without hesitation. Besides, she probably needed some other object to fawn over since her haro was...well...

Ever since the incident that the skating rink, Lacus's "Pink-chan" malfunctioned, becoming even more hyper than before, trying even Lacus's infinite patience. So Athrun shut it down until he could get the right parts to fix it. With the chaos that had been going on, he never had the chance.

"I wonder how the others are doing. Even though they told us to leave, I still feel guilty about it," Lacus remarked.

"Well, Cagalli did toss me out the door," Kira chuckled at the memory, "but I can't help but worry too."

Lacus sighed, "I do hope everything turns out well."

Kira looked away, not knowing what to say. They continued walking, past stores and alleys...His eyes widened, spotting something.

"Kira what is it?" Lacus asked, noticing his demeanor.

Kira ran towards the object, with Lacus following right behind. Both gasped in realization, yet with disbelief.

"Is...is that really..."

"I think it is..."

The familiar silver ribbon Elise had worn when they first met hung limply on a rusted ladder, with an ominous note attached at the end.

* * *

Done...

Blah...I don't know...this chapter seemed...odd...and with my hiatus effect still not wore off, it's even odder...hopefully I didn't completely ruin the story...

Oh, the question that I wanted to ask before...I was wondering whether people would find it weird if I replied to the reviews. Some of the reviews I really want to say something back, yet I feel a bit awkward since it's no longer just responding before a chapter, but messaging. So let me know. XD

Next chapter:

By the bargaining tool found by Kira and Lacus, the group is allowed to stay. (maybe I shouldn't have told you this...lol)

Miriallia and Dearka in danger?

Lacus and Ray talking...what does Ray mean by that?

Kira and Yzak awkardness...lol

What's this? Yzak finally getting his package?

Hopefully what sounded decent for the next chapter.

And as always, thanks for reading! XD


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